ONE department that has been seeing positive changes ever since PTI government came into power is Pakistan Post and credit for this definitely goes to Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, who otherwise, is known for his fiery speeches against the opposition leaders but the reforms he has started introducing in the public sector department also speaks volume of his capability to deliver on the promises made by his party before elections.
Chairing a meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the establishment of a Pension Fund for an institutionalized mechanism for disbursing of pension to retired employees of the Post. Just like every other public sector department, the pension budget of Pakistan Post is ballooning with each passing year. In fact, the pension consumes around 34% of the budget of Pakistan Post and this situation warranted some out-of-box solution to make the process sustainable. The nitty-gritty of the Pension Fund is yet to be worked out but in our view it would envisage contributions both from the organization and the employees, and the money generated then will be invested somewhere. Anyway as the government’s pension budget is going beyond affordable levels, other public sector departments will also have to follow the suit of Pakistan Post.
Then it is also heartening to note that Pakistan Post is heading towards digitalization and an agreement to this effect will be signed next week under which the employees of Pakistan Post will be provided with IPads and other gadgets. Indeed by using the latest technology, the organization can significantly enhance its service and performance much to the satisfaction of its customers. Pakistan Post has a large network of offices across the country and its reach to the far flung and rural areas gives it an edge over the private sector. What it needs to do is to gain the confidence of the customers through improvement in service delivery and introduction of new products. This will definitely help the organization stand on its own feet and become a profitable entity. Murad Saeed is taking Pakistan Post towards that end but at the same time we will ask the Minister to also focus on the development and reconstruction of road infrastructure in the country.
