LAHORE: Special Committee on Private Sector Companies (PSCs) formed by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Tuesday recommended closure of 30 out of 70 companies in a meeting held at the Civil Secretariat.

The meeting, chaired by Punjab Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Local Government Raja Basharat, was also attended by Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal and secretaries of the respective departments.

The meeting deliberated issues of PSCs of Punjab in the light of the Lahore High Court case and instructions of the chief minister.

Raja Basharat said the closure of non-functional companies would save billions of rupees. He regretted that no measures were adopted to make the companies sustainable at the time of their inspection due to which no mechanism exists for the repayment of heavy loans borrowed by these PSCs, now likely to bear this burden by the present government.

The chair directed departments concerned to complete the Board of Directors of their respective companies. He said, “Each company is directed to develop its business plan based on sustainability and self-reliance as no company will be allowed to work without a viable business plan in future.”

All departments concerned are also directed to complete their homework about the final decision and a report in this regard be submitted by June 14 which is next date of hearing at the Lahore High Court. The meeting suggested that recommendations might be sent to the chief minister for taking up the matter of PSCs in Cabinet Committee to formulate a comprehensive polity in order to settle this long-awaited issue.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2019