ISLAMABAD (June 04 2005): The government decided on Friday to postpone the privatisation of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited as the PTCL employees, who were on a countrywide strike for the last twelve days, agreed to call off their agitation forthwith. Later, the PTCL Employees' Action Committee and the government issued a joint statement.

Secretaries of Interior Ministry Syed Kamal Shah and of Privatisation Ministry Tahsin Khan Iqbal in addition to ten others including Malik Maqbool Hussain who was heading the eleven parties' Joint Action Committee of the PTCL Employees signed the statement. No one was present from IT and Telecom Ministry and the PTCL management, who are also blamed by some quarters for fuelling the strike and getting the privatisation postponed.

THE URDU STATEMENT CAN BE TRANSLATED AS FOLLOWS:

1. The government would consult the Action Committee before giving details of PTCL assets.

2. The PTCL privatisation is being postponed and Action Committee has assured the secretaries (Interior and Privatisation) that they would sort out all the objections, and any decision taken would be in the best benefit of the nation and PTCL employees, and in consultation with the Action Committee.

3. After agreeing on all the said points Action Committee asks all its members (the PTCL employees) to end strike and join their duties and work with complete devotion to make PTCL an exemplary institution.

4. Apart from that, the PTCL management and law enforcement agencies would not take any punitive action and would abide by the agreement.

Earlier, some members of the Action Committee were taken away by law enforcement agencies and were asked to restart their work.

A Rs 3.5 billion compensation package was offered by the PTCL management to the employees. PTCL has 62000 employees, out of which 7000 are on daily wages, which the Action Committee has been demanding for permanent appointment.

There are over 200 cases waiting to get jobs on the basis that their parents were employees and died during the service. Three pay raises were due of the employees as per 1996 policy, but no such increase was given after 1998.

The Privatisation Secretary, when asked after the talks about the new date of the privatisation bidding, said that the government would announce it as soon as possible. While, PTCL Action Committee head Malik Maqbool was challenging him in front of journalists that privatisation is out of question.

Experts believe that no investor could dare to take management of such unruly employees who were on second week of strike and even the government was unable to manage them. The interested bidders could also backtrack if such impasse would continue.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2005