LAHORE - Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) sacked 4,544 employees, including the Divisional and Assistant Managers, PSM spokesperson confirmed on Friday.
Management confirmed that officials belonging to category 2,3, and 4 pay groups have been dismissed from their jobs. The spokesperson also notified that dismissal letters have been sent to sacked employees by post.
On the other hand, PSM Stakeholders Group Covener Mamriz Khan lamented that the State has become indifferent to the employees of one of the largest public sectors of Pakistan. "There are reports that the department head was called on Friday so that employees can be dismissed," he said, lamenting that employees are forced to protest during the on-going coronavirus pandemic. Regretting that the case against the appointment of Steel Mills Chief Executive is not being heard, the PSM official said that the current plan to rehabilitate Pakistan Steel Mills will cause further damage.
Earlier this month, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said that the government had decided to privatise the PSM as it had become a burden on the national exchequer. He said that PSM employees had not been working for the last many years and now they would get a financial package of around Rs2.3 million per employee as compensation. Besides, he said, employees could also contribute to productivity in the private sector.