Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
A legislative body of Upper house of parliament on Friday expressed dissatisfaction with PITAC and directed the ministry of industry and production to investigate the matter of employment and submit a report at next meeting.
These revelations were made durimg Senate Standing Committee on Industry and Production, which held today at parliament house while Senator Khalida Ateeb was on Chair.
The Senate Committee deliberated on the appointment of Mr. Basir Ahmad, son of Haji Yar Muhammad, at the Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Center (PITAC).
The Legal Counsel of PITAC apprised the committee that Basir Ahmad was appointed as an ‘Apprentice Engineer’ in 2012, and the rules do not make it obligatory for PITAC to offer employment to an individual after the completion of their apprenticeship.The affected individual, Bashir Ahmad, mentioned that he was appointed as an ‘Apprentice Engineer’ under the ‘Aghaz e Haqooq Baluchistan Project’ subject to consideration for a permanent position after the completion of his apprenticeship.
However, despite the availability of relevant positions, no permanent position was offered to him. Senator Dr. Muhammad Humayun Mohamand highlighted the matter of illegal conduct by Private Members of the NFC Board in dereliction of their fiduciary responsibilities.
He claimed that some NFC employees were continuing to work after accepting the consensual ‘Golden Handshake’ and enjoying the perks and privileges associated with it.
Officials of NFC stated that the matter was referred to the FIA in 2019, and the investigation has not been completed yet.
The Committee has directed NFC to provide details of the necessary actions taken by NFC management to expedite the inquiry.”
While discussing the present status of the regularization of services and the increase in salaries of National Fertilizer Marketing Ltd (NFML) employees, the MD of NFML apprised the committee that there is a substantial gap between the salaries of regular and contract employees. However, the salaries of contract employees were increased by 30% last year to lessen the gap to some extent.