Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production Tuesday recommended to resolve the issues of Salaries, gratuity and Provident Fund in Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).

Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production meeting was chaired by Senator Hidayatullah in Parliament House here.

Chairman Committee Senator Hidayatullah Said that Ministry of Privatization have no concern for paying net salaries to PSM employees.

The Committee informed that amount worth Rs 47 billion required for paying all arrears to PSM employees and the government was paying Rs 270 million for salaries to PSM employees in every month.

Secretary Privatization Commission, Irfan Ali said privatization was prime economic tool for enhancing the capacity of institutions.

He said the government was committed for working on stability and growth of national institution.

In the meeting, Senator Taj Haider stressed the need to increase the industrial base instead to privatize the country’s institutions for providing employment opportunities in the country.

Meanwhile, briefing the committee, senior official of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) informed the committee that 11 employees of USC were under trial in different cases including 6 officers and 5 other employees.

He informed the committee that currently the corporation was facing loss of Rs 17 million daily and as many as 4,477 stores were running in loss.

He said main reason behind such a huge loss was over burden of employees as around 480 employees were in surplus.

Chairman Committee urged the USC to evolve system for maintaining quality control and transparency in the institution.

Senator Taj Haider, Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh, Malik Najmul Haq, Kalsoom Perveen , Khanzada Khan and senior official of Ministry of Industries and Production attended the meeting.