The failure of public sector enterprises is generally attributed to rampant corruption and theft but the issues relating to poor efficiency and weak mechanisms are overlooked. Of late, the incumbent government started an aggressive campaign against electricity and gas theft but, unfortunately, no attention was paid to technical handicaps, poor preventive and corrective maintenance, lack of responsiveness, poor workmanship, and confused coordination mechanism. Nobody is concerned about the pace at which our more than 80,000 km gas pipeline network is deteriorating, causing further increase in losses, in the coming days. Same is the case with the electricity network this trillion of rupee network cannot be replaced. One must know that leakage increases in exponential progression- a threat much bigger than theft. How we would manage such a bulky network in the coming decade is the million dollar question.
Majority of underground pipeline network of Sui gas is situated in congested city areas where replacement or overhauling is too difficult and very costly. Even in some cases where modifications are done time to time, pipelines are not traceable. Unfortunately, the organization is unable to quantify losses downstream of Town Border Stations (TBS) in order to know precisely the location of high losses. Such incapacity leads to inadequate direction to eradicate losses.
The higher managements of many public sector organizations are unable to spare enough time for systematic improvements and working out efficient mechanisms to reform their organizations due to wrong priorities, political pressures and lack of training and management skills. The head offices of such organizations are always filled up with parliamentarians, high officials, influential people and personal friends. It has become a norm to directly approach higher management rather than the complaint cells or public affair department. Managing directors and senior managers’ phones are usually busy in entertaining individual issues.
On the other side, the number of average training days per year in these organizations is not more than 5 days a year. Moreover, the quality of training is again questionable. Casual staff is hired on daily wages in highly sensitive and skill oriented organizations, who lack training, requisite qualification and always fearing de-hiring. The second tier of hierarchy, (below the higher managements) is generally missing and proper allocation of resources and their distribution is non-existent. Most of the organizations are over-centralized. If we won’t pay attention to these issues, relating to competency, skills and eligibility, the aggregate losses of these organizations would swell further.
IRFAN ALI,
Lahore, April 17.