'Incapable and politicized' PSM security staff to be laid off

Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) management has decided to lay off "incapable and politicized" security staff by hiring a security firm due to 'special interest' of incumbent GM Security despite initial resistance from some Board members, well-informed sources in Ministry of Industries and Production told Business Recorder.
Chairman PSM Board, Aamir Mumtaz, an American citizen appointed by Prime Minister's recently removed Advisor on Industries and Production, Abdul Razak Dawood, is actively engaged in retrenchment plan, aimed at removing all 9350 employees for which an amount of Rs 18. 75 billion has been sought from the GoP as loan. The ECC of the Cabinet is expected to reconsider the retrenchment plan soon after Eid holidays.
However, PSM management has not submitted any plan to pay Rs 22 billion to the retired employees in the light of SHC decision. The mill recently hired a female secretary to the CEO @ Rs 5000 per day.
On May 13, 2002, during discussion in ECC meeting, it was observed that the operation of PSM is on halt since long. A huge amount is being paid by Federal Government on account of salaries of employees of PSM, which is quite a heavy burden on its exchequer. It was suggested that instead of proposed retrenchment/rationalization of these employees, maximum employees of PSM may be laid off in light of Supreme Court verdict under Civil Petition bearing No. 326-K & 513-K of 2018. The ECC agreed to the proposal.
The ECC directed the MoI&P to resubmit the proposal after reformulating it in consultation with PSM management so that its scope could be extended to the maximum number of PSM employees. The ECC also decided that disbursement and payment plan as requested by Finance Division may be provided by PSM.
The sources said, to justify lay off of existing security staff of PSM, Principal Executive Officer(PEO)(A&P) informed the board in the previous meeting that current security arrangement is proving to be inadequate due to the non-professional and non-trained security personnel. He maintained that in 2018, PSM pulled out from outsourcing of security and made internal arrangements by deputing manpower from other departments to security departments which led to the debacle in the form of thefts and security lapses.
The PEO further added that majority of the security staff is physically unfit and none of them have even discharged an armed weapon. Major portion of the security personnel is politicized and have the backing of CBA/unions which create unrest if a disciplinary action is initiated against the security staff for misconduct or deliberately being absent from duty. He also informed the Board that PSM is bearing an amount of Rs 20 million on account of security staff.
General Manager (Security) added that since his joining as GM (Security) on January 29, 2020, he has been trying to motivate the security staff for better performance but he has concluded that it is beyond their capacity. The Board was further apprised that none of the official weapons are workable and all are beyond economical repair. An amount of Rs 2 million is required for procurement of necessary equipment like base station, walkie-talkie and weapons like 9mm pistol and repeaters.
In view of the current security situation, the PEO (A&P) proposed that rather than keeping inefficient staff at an humungous salary bill of Rs 20 million, PSM may outsource the security of its assets/installments' to a private firm that will have professional security team equipped with working weapons at an approximate cost of Rs 7.2 million per month. PSM will have to provide accommodation to the security firm at steel town. As far as current security staff is concerned, it may either be laid off or transferred back to their parent departments, whichever suits the organization and is deemed necessary.
According to sources, the Board expressed its concern over inadequate security arrangements and emphasized the need for strict security of assets so that it may not hinder the smooth transaction process of the Corporation which is already on the active privatisation list.
While reiterating the need of proper security arrangements, the Board member, Munir K Bana asked the PSM management as to how they plan to pay Rs 7.2 million per month as they are not even able to pay monthly salary of current employees and taking loans from GoP. PEO (A&P) submitted that PSM management has marked outsourcing assets like Pakistan Steel Guest House, Quaid-e-Azam Park, Hadeed Welfare Trust, Steel Hospital to arrange the required finances.
Dr Imran Ullah Khan was of the view that it is inappropriate to compare the cost of procurement of equipment and weapons with hiring of security firm as the cost of procurement is Rs 2 million for one time whereas hiring a security firm will create a recurring expense of Rs 7.2 million per month and the current financial position of PSM does not permit this.
Iftikhar Naqvi seconded Dr Imran's point and added that adding contractual obligation in the current scenario will create problems in the privatisation process. However, Asif Jabbar Khan added that as the GM (Security) has already submitted that the current security staff is not capable of handling the security of the organization, thus the Board may approve outsourcing of security of PSM with the condition that the PSM management will locally arrange the requisite funds (Rs 7.2 million per month) through internal resources and will not seek loan from GoP.
After a detailed discussion, the Board allowed PSM to outsource the security of the Corporation assets/installations subject to the fulfillment of following conditions; (i) PSM Management to lay off the current security staff; (ii) the incoming agency will only have ex-servicemen as security staff and; (iii) there should be no additional financial burden on the GoP as a result of outsourcing. Amount saved from the retrenchment of the current security staff, would be sufficient to maintain the proposed outsourcing and in case of deficiency if any, would be made up through generation from other sources by the management of PSM.
When contacted, Chairman PSM Board said that the aspect of submission of summaries to the ECC is handled by the MoI&P and PSM management/board is only acting in support on its request, adding that he hasn't heard of scheduling of ECC meeting.
"The GoP and the PSM revival team are proceeding with good intent and trying to find solutions to difficult problems, considering the broader interest of the country. The revival of PSM will need the support of all the government institutions and PSM's management, employees and other stakeholders," he said.
Mumtaz was of the view that it is important for everyone to put the interest of the country first. He said it is in the country's interest to restore production at the Mills, operate the Mills with private sector involvement to avoid mistakes of the past and create an efficient, agile and skilled workforce that can compete with any in the world.
"Blocking actions will cause stalemates that will only perpetuate the status quo, continue accumulation of the losses and result in a missed opportunity with potentially ending up in the worst case option of permanent closure of this enterprise. We cannot afford that!," he concluded.