ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel was informed on Thursday that state-run Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) on its last legs due to negligence of the government, which is evident from Rs 5 billion loss per year being incurred to it.

In a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat led by Kishwar Zehra, which visited the PCP, the managing director PCP said that the government needs to pump in Rs5 billion to the loss-making entity or else things will get worse.

The MD said that a golden handshake scheme for the employees is the need of the hour as the institution could not afford any further loss, besides replacing its outdated printing machines, which have not been replaced for the last40 years.

He also told the committee that there are only two mechanics available to fix the broken machines and other equipment, which is hampering the work, as there is too much workload on the PCP.

He also said that that the binding machines are completely out of order, which is again a big issue and could not be fixed unless the losses issue is overcome.

Except election year, the MD added, the PCP has always been running on losses, which is quite unfortunate, adding the State institutions are not making timely payments due to which the salaries of employees are often delayed.

The committee was told that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is yet to pay the outstanding amount against it for the work done by the PCP during the local government elections.

“Due to workload, we have to engage the private sector too as we don’t have the capacity. There are 40 years old machines with us, which are not properly functioning,” he added.

He said that if the institution is given the state-of-the-art machinery, and work of state-run universities, and other institution is given to the PCP, it may overcome the loss. “Only 40pc election-related work is given to the PCP,” he added.

The parliamentary panel assured to play its due role in bringing the loss-making state entity back on track, which is about to collapse due to the negligence of the respective governments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022