KARACHI: Members of Hamdard Shura Karachi chapter welcomed decision of federal government to privatise state-owned enterprises and expressed hope that process of selling national assets would be handled transparently and effectively.

They expressed their views in monthly meeting of Hamdard Shura held yesterday at Hamdard Corporate Head Office on topic ‘Privatisation of state-owned enterprises and future of laid-off employees’. Speaker Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider presided over proceedings. Sadia Rashid President of Hamdard Foundation Pakistan also attended meeting. Moinuddin Haider said the major reasons for failure of state-owned enterprises are overstaffing and country’s overall economic conditions.  “Unfortunately, Pakistan has never been able to attract constant foreign direct investments in various sectors, resulting in lack of employment opportunities. This caused overstaffing of existing state-owned corporations and companies,” he said. He said present economic challenges compelled government to reduce its expenses and privatise around 25 SOEs with management rights. Increase in direct and indirect taxes has negatively impacted purchasing power of ordinary citizens. Nation has been suffering consequences of decades of mismanagement and corruption in state institutions and departments.Zafar Iqbal Cdre (retd) 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 (retd) Mukhtar Ahmed Butt were of view SOEs face annual losses due to overstaffing and mismanagement. There is possibility that privatisation may lead to many employees losing their jobs, which needs to be addressed before moving ahead in privatisation process because it may potentially fuel social unrest. Unfortunately, many of current SOE employees cannot be employed abroad or elsewhere because they lack modern knowledge and skills. There is 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.

  They will have multiple options to manage their financial obligations by opening small shops and other businesses after retirement. Therefore, fears of widespread unemployment after privatisation are unsubstantiated. Privatisation of PTCL and K Electric proved fruitful for government as state retains majority stake, earning millions of rupees annually. Moreover, privatisation has led to increased operational efficiency in PTCL and K Electric.An agreement should be made with investors that they will not lay off any employees for at least year and will give them chance to prove their abilities.