November 17, 2007	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 06, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: The Senate Standing Committee on Rules of Procedures and Privileges on Friday directed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to take immediate remedial steps to avert the current nosedive and revive the past glory of the national flag-carrier.

The committee, which met at the Parliament House with chairman Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, asked the PIA to improve its financial health by tackling the problem of over-staffing, which remained its bane that had literally plagued the organisation.

It called for injecting greater discipline, efficiency and professionalism into the organisation before it is too late.

Senator Tahir Mashhadi told Dawn that the committee took strong notice of the absence of secretary defence. “The parliament is supreme and the bureaucrats are not above the parliament,” he remarked.

However, Additional Secretary Ministry of Defence Maj-Gen (retd) Haider Ali Khan has assured the committee that the ministry held the Parliament and its committees in high esteem and would implement its recommendations in letter and spirit. He said steps were underway to improve the financial health as well as service and behaviour of the staff with the customers.

Chairman of the committee deplored the trend, witnessed over the years, of making recommendations for appointments in the PIA by the politicians and other well-connected and influential people. Lamenting lack of discipline, inefficiency and mismanagement currently being observed at the PIA and termed it a logical consequence of years of ‘Sifarish culture’ prevailing in the country.

The root cause of the current mess, he said, must be traced to this national malaise of considering appointments in public sector organisations as traditional spoils of political offices. Though it cannot be corrected overnight, we should at least make a beginning, he reminded. He particularly underlined the need of better management at the middle and junior levels as they had to deal with the bulk of passengers.

The meeting was attended by senators Naeem Hussain Chattha, Abdul Razak A. Thahim, Mohammad Ismail Buledi, Hafiz Rashid Ahmad and Kalsoom Parveen besides senior officials of the ministry of defence and PIA.