Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production headed by Senator Mushadhid Ullah Khan on Tuesday directed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), Khalid Chadha, to provide details of its properties along with locations, cases under litigation and sources of income. The meeting was attended by Senators Sardar Fateh Muhamamd Hasni, Iiyas Bilour, Kamal Ali Agha, Saeed Ghani and Idrees Khan Safi.
Senator Ilyas Bilour objected to the induction of Sarwar Khan and Secretary SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry as members of the PIDC Board. He pointed out that Sarwar Khan had been on PIDC's Board for the last six years while a nomination by the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry had been ignored.
CEO PIDC clarified that the nominee of Sarhad Chamber reached late in the PIDC office due to which the name of Sarwar Khan was included in the list of the new Board members. He explained the process of Board member selection which required a committee to scrutinise the names and send them to the Ministry which, subsequently, submits them to the Prime Minister for final approval. According to CEO PIDC, the properties owned by PIDC are very expensive. He expressed dissatisfaction at the rent being charged by the Corporation. "PIDC's properties are worth billions of rupees but rent is peanuts," remarked Mushahid Ullah Khan.
Committee members were also of the view that PIDC has extended Rs 8 billion to subsidiary companies since 2005, but their performance is negligible. Secretary Industries and Production, Raja Hasan Abbas also endorsed the viewpoint of committee members, saying that companies have failed to deliver. Khalid Chadha informed the committee that all subsidiary companies have their own Boards of Directors for monitoring their performance. Secretary Industries and Production informed the committee that the Ministry has directed PIDC to conduct a third-party audit of subsidiary companies so that a policy decision could be taken with regard to their future.
Standing Committee, however, was of the view that the shutdown of public sector companies is not the answer. CEO, PASDEC Lutfur Rehman informed the committee that his company intends to explore granite in Tharparkar but Pak Army has not allowed its exploration. "We have written a letter to GHQ seeking permission for exploration activities," he added.
Senator Kamal Ali Agha proposed that Defence Ministry should be summoned to the next meeting to explain its position on the charges levelled by the PASDEC CEO. Bakhtiar Khan, CEO Pak Gem and Jewellery Company, gave a detailed presentation on the activities of the company with regard to development of gems and jewellery sector.
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