Arranging salaries of reinstated employees: government devises secret plan by revising gas tariff

The government has devised a secret plan to meet the salaries' budget of reinstated Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) employees by revising gas tariff, which will add to the miseries of the consumers already paying inflated bills.
Sources told Business Recorder that a subcommittee of the Cabinet on the reinstatement of sacked employees had observed that the sacked employees/workers were reinstated as per law with approval of the Cabinet subcommittee. "Therefore, the cost incurred on their salaries and all other benefits shall be borne by the concerned company, subject to the revision in prices by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra)," sources said, quoting chairman of subcommittee, Minister for Labour and Manpower, Khursheed Ahmed Shah.
Sources claimed that SNGPL had already started implementing the plan to raise money from gas consumers by sending inflated bills to recover the cost incurred on the salaries and benefits of its reinstated employees.
They said that the subcommittee in its meeting on February 18 expressed concern over non-implementation of its decision regarding reinstatement of sacked employees in service on one scale higher to their substantive scale of the post and payment of first instalment of compensation on their reinstatement by SSGC and SNGPL.
SSGC Managing Director (MD) in a meeting of subcommittee on January 4 informed it that out of 2994 sacked employees, 2533 (1900 subordinates and 633 executives/management trainees) had been reinstated in service, whereas 38 cases had been referred to the Review Board.
The chairman of subcommittee took serious notice on fresh appointments of doctors on contract basis and their postings in dispensaries/hospitals of the company despite availability of a large number of reinstated doctors who were being paid by the company are still waiting for posting.
The MD informed the subcommittee that no doctor had been employed. But, he said, some retainer doctors had been appointed as the reinstated doctors were less willing to work in the dispensaries/hospitals located in far-flung areas. The committee directed to post the reinstated doctors in hospitals of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta.
Responding to query raised by the chairman about the status of posting of the reinstated sacked employees, their placement in one step above scale and payment of salaries, the MD of SSGC said that their postings would be made after the expiry of contracts of the existing employees, especially meter readers, up to June 2010. Regarding their placement in one step above scale, he said that they would be placed in one step above scale immediately after their postings. About salaries, he said, the company had already allowed three annual increments.