The members of the Hamdard Shura Karachi chapter welcomed the decision of the federal government to privatize state-owned enterprises and expressed hope that the process of selling national assets would be handled transparently and effectively. They expressed their views in the monthly meeting of Hamdard Shura held yesterday at Hamdard Corporate Head Office on the topic “Privatization of state-owned enterprises and the future of laid-off employees”.
Speaker Gen (r) Moinuddin Haider presided over the proceedings. Ms Sadia Rashid, President of Hamdard Foundation Pakistan also attended the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, Gen (r) Moinuddin Haider said the major reasons for the failure of state-owned enterprises are overstaffing and the country’s overall economic conditions. “Unfortunately, Pakistan has never been able to attract constant foreign direct investments in various sectors, resulting in a lack of employment opportunities. This caused overstaffing of the existing state-owned corporations and companies,” he said. He also said present economic challenges compelled the government to reduce its expenses and privatize around 25 SOEs with management rights. The increase in direct and indirect taxes has negatively impacted the purchasing power of ordinary citizens. The nation has been suffering the consequences of decades of mismanagement and corruption in state institutions and departments.Esteemed members Zafar Iqbal, Cdre (r) Sadeed Anwar Malik, Engr. Anwar-ul-Haq, Rizwan Ahmed, Sultan Chawla, Amir Tauseen, Huma Baig, Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan, Prof. Dr. Bhuwani Shankar and Col (r) Mukhtar Ahmed Butt said SOEs face annual losses due to overstaffing and mismanagement.
There is a possibility that privatization may lead to many employees losing their jobs, which needs to be addressed before moving ahead in the privatization process because it may potentially fuel social unrest. Unfortunately, many of the current SOE employees cannot be employed abroad or elsewhere because they lack modern knowledge and skills.
There is a need for adult education and skill development courses to address this issue.Many employees of SOEs have turned to alternative sources of income. Besides that, if they get laid off, they will get funds through schemes like golden handshake.
