5,282 PSM employees terminated in four years, Senate body told

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of employees had been terminated by the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) management during the past four years to overcome its financial crisis, ARY News reported.

A report issued by the Ministry of Industries and Production stated that the PSM management terminated 5,282 employees during the past four years to overcome its financial crisis.

The Ministry of Industries and Production presented a report to the Senate’s standing committee. It stated that 5,282 PSM employees had been terminated during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in three phases.

The terminations were made under directives issued by the authorities concerned from November 2020 to July 2021.

341 employees were terminated under a scheme in two phases from January 2022 to March 2022.

The secretary of the industries division told the Senate body that the PSM bore a financial loss of Rs206 billion in the previous fiscal year, whereas, not a single buyer showed interest for the steel mill.

The secretary said that Pakistan requires an investment of $584 billion for the revival of the steel mill which would take at least four to six months.

Earlier in the month, the federal cabinet approved Rs620 million for the salaries of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) employees. Following the decision, the PSM employees will get salaries for the first six months of the current fiscal year.

Sources said that Rs 620 million will be issued from the Rs 10 billion fund of Pakistan Steel Mills.

Currently, over 3,100 employees are working in Pakistan Steel Mills where as 5,679 employees have been dismissed from their jobs.

On September 19, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) authorized Finance Division to approve the payment of projected net salary for the first six months of the Financial Year 2023-24 to be disbursed according to the salary demand of Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) for every month from already approved budgetary allocation of Rs. 10 billion.