Observer Report
Lahore/ Karachi
Several trains en route to Karachi or leaving the port city were cancelled on Wednesday after former employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills protested by blocking the tracks.
The Pakistan Steel Mills last week laid off over 4,500 of its employees in a move strongly criticized by the PPP led Sindh government.
Railway officials confirmed that two trains running between Karachi and Lahore, the Karachi Express and the Shah Hussain Express, were also cancelled due to track blockages.
Officials added that all passengers with tickets of the cancelled trains will be fully refunded and if any passenger wishes to board a different train, Pakistan Railways will facilitate.
The employees – 4,544 in total – were fired in the wake of an emergency meeting chaired by the PSM chief executive officer at the CEO Secretariat.
In June, the PTI led federal government had decided to terminate all 9,350 PSM employees, taking a giant but politically difficult step to stop years-long haemorrhaging instead of reviving the industrial unit.
The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet on June 3 had also approved to give the employees due monetary benefits along with one month salary that would cost the exchequer Rs18 billion to Rs19.7 billion.
