islamabad - Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on Wednesday announced first interim cash dividend of Rs 2.50 per share (25.0pc) for the first quarter ended 30th September 2014.
This was announced in the Board of Directors meeting. According to officials, the Company’s net sales revenue increased to Rs 64.39 billion compared to Rs 62.41 billion in the corresponding period of last year. Profit after tax stood at Rs 28.310 billion resulting into earnings per share of Rs 6.58.
On the other hand, Islamabad police in the evening brutally baton charged OGDCL employees who were protesting against the privatisation of the company.
According to eye witnesses’ police tortured the peaceful rally and then fired tear gas shells to disperse them. Many were wounded badly while police arrested many protestors.
The protesters who walked from OGDCL headquarter towards Parliament were intercepted by the police near D-Chowk, when they were chanting slogans against the government for privatising the revenue generating organisation of the country.
They were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands. The protesters said that the federal government instead of creating employment opportunities for jobless people was laying off employed people.
They rejected the decision of the government to privatise OGDCL and alleged that vested interests were behind the unpopular decision.
The protesters said that a large number of employees would become jobless if the OGDCL was privatised. They said that if government could not provide jobs to the educated people then it should not snatch employment from them.
After the police action dozens of protestors were shifted to the hospital. According to union police arrested dozens of protestors. According to sources in OGDCL employee union, after police action workers were planning to go on strike and discontinue oil supply from all the OGDCL fields across the country. Final line of action would be announced on Thursday.