Senate body for making Pakistan Post ‘profitable entity’

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Postal Services on Wednesday called on the ministry to prepare proposals on improving services, resolution of problems and making it a profitable entity, which will be got approved from the government.The committee met here with Senator Khushbakht Shujaat in the chair. The forum took stock of the implementation status of its earlier recommendations, recovery of land of the services, encroached upon in major cities, including Karachi and Lahore. The committee called for stepping efforts to get land retrieved from encroachers and land grabbers.Those were present during the deliberations, included senators Rana Mehmoodul Hasan, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Mushtaq Ahmad, Behramand Tangi, Mohsin Aziz and Anwar Lal Din, Pakistan Post secretary, its director general and other senior officials.The committee emphasised that the minister should have been present in the meeting in view of its importance as there was an urgent need to lift standards of the services as well as its performance, facilitating public.Speaking on the occasion, the committee chairperson said that the Pakistan Post was an important institution, which had prominent name and its services available in all big and small cities and towns and people benefited from it.She contended that concerted efforts must be made to revival its past glory and making it a profitable institution and for this she called for a coherent policy. She felt the minister should have been around.The meeting was informed that total expenditure stood at Rs. 21 billion while its budget was Rs. 17 billion, whereas its earning was Rs. 12 billion. Moreover, owing to slashing of the savings bank rates, it had witnessed a loss of Rs. 3.5 billion. Besides, this, the responsibility of payment of pension to its retired employees had also been shifted to it, causing an additional burden of Rs. 7.5 billion on it, as a result, the institution was running in Rs. 10 billion losses.The forum was also told that the institution was neither commercial nor fully owned by the government. The committee directed for ensuring presence of the minister for postal services in the next meeting and asked the Pakistan Post to thrash out proposals for the revival of the entity.

from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2BD9OtY