ISLAMABAD - The federal government has reconstituted the Board of Directors (BoDs) of six Ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (Discos) and appointed 24 new independent directors for 30 posts of the boards.
Finally after three months, the federal government has reconstituted the boards of six out of 11 Discos.
The BoDs of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), and Hazara Electric Supply Company(HAZECO) have been reconstituted. The BoDs of Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO), Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO), Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) and Tribal Electric Supply Company (TESCO) will remain intact.
As per the decision, Omer Farooq Khan has been appointed as chairman/independent director of FESCO, along with four other independent directors including Zoe Khurshid Khan, Pervaiz Iqbal, Adil Bashir, and Amir Zia. Tahir Masood, Syed Ali Murtaza, Dr Amir Matin, Amna Abbas and Rana Abdul Sattar have been appointed as independent directors to IESCO’s BOD. Tahir Masood will be the chairman of the BOD.
Similarly, Amir Zia, Imran Zaffar, Zainab Janjua, Khwaja Jalaluddin Rumi and Tahir Basharat Cheema have been appointed independent directors on MEPCO Board. Amir Zia has been tipped as chairman BoD.
For LESCO, the government has appointed Amer Zia, Zafar Mahmood, Zoe Khurshid Khan, Asad Shafi and Tahir Basharat Cheema as independent directors. For PESCO, Himayat Ullah Khan, Tahir Ali Khan, Fazal-e-Khaliq, Saima Akbar Khattak and Saud Azam have been appointed as independent directors to BoD. Himayat Ullah Khan will be the chairman of the Board.
For HAZECO, Himayat ullah Khan, Tahir Ali Khan, Fazal-e-Khaliq, Saima Akbar Khattak and Saud Azam have been appointed as independent directors to BOD. For HAZECO also, Himayat Ullah Khan will be the chairman of the Board. Some candidates have been appointed to more than one and up to three Discos. It seems that there was a shortage of right persons for the post of the independent directors. Amir Zia has been appointed to the BoD of three Discos, and also nominated chairman of two them. Zoe Khursheed Khan, Himayat Ullah Khan and Tahir Basharat Cheema have been appointed to two BODs.
Earlier, the government had decided to remove independent directors on the Board of Directors of nine Discos owing to their poor performance. However, due to legal glitch the government was unable to reconstitute the BoDs. In June 2024, to remove legal glitch in the removal of the independent directors from the boards of the Discos, the federal government had amended the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Act 2023. Now the government has removed independent directors from six BoDs.
