ISLAMABAD: A total of 819 PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) employees have been dismissed from service on the basis of fake/bogus/tempered academic documents and their cases referred to FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) for criminal proceedings, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan informed Senate on Tuesday.

In a written reply to Mushtaq Ahmed from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Aviation Minister stated that cases against the remaining 21 employees, out of 840 employees, were under process.

However, he expressed inability to proceed against those who hired these 840 employees. “All the officers/staffs responsible for recruitment of these 840 employees have been retired from the services so no disciplinary proceeding can be initiated against them under PIA service rules,” the minister’s reply, furnished in Senate question hour, read.

Furthermore, the Cabinet Division, in reply to a question posed by Afnan Ullah Khan from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), said, 28 national/international companies from different countries (including Pakistan) committed an investment of over 93 billion rupees and 11,500 jobs in two months (October to December) since the promulgation of Special Technology Zones Authority Act on October 6, 2021.

These countries include Pakistan, United States, United Kingdom, China, Norway and some countries in the Central America and Middle East, the Cabinet Division stated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022