Islamabad:

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee for Industries and Production expressed dissatisfaction on Wednesday over a Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Executive Engineer (Xen), which provided a briefing on behalf of the ministry, which questions the absence of the ministry secretary and other relevant officials.

The panel under the house, led by Syed Hafeezuddin, convened to review the proposed development budget for the coming financial year.

The chairman of the committee emphasized that the Ministry of Industries and Production had a budget of DKK 4.91 billion in the previous financial year, but only utilized RS22.09 million of its development funds.

During the session, PSM Xen provided a briefing on behalf of the ministry that triggered outrage among committee members.

The expression of his dissatisfaction asked Committee Member Abdul Hakeem Baloch to question how a xen could represent the ministry in such a critical discussion. He asked about the absence of the ministry’s secretary and other relevant officials.

“Your role seems limited to dismissing employees instead of tackling core problems,” Baloch noted.

The committee chairman assured the members that the PSM question would also be discussed at the meeting.

By tackling concerns about the fate of utilities, the federal minister of industries and production rejected Rana Tanveer’s impression that the unit was closed. “Who says we close supply stores?” He asked. However, he acknowledged that the stores sustained billions in losses.

Tanveer assured the committee that steps would be taken to secure the future of the supply business employees, clarifying that even permanent employees were not considered government staff. He also revealed plans to serve auxiliary stores under a public-private partnership model.

“We have already decided that no new daily workers will be employed in tool stores,” he added.

The minister also drew a parallel between the economic battles for utilities and PSM’s downfall when the largest steel plant in Asia. “Small stores are opened in rooms with a room across different cities, which is not a sustainable model,” he noted.

The committee chairman announced that both tool stores representatives and PPP would be called for further discussions.