LAHORE, Aug 12: The PTCL has finally started the process of regularizing its daily wagers who are 2,700 in number across the country, it is learnt. Officials told Dawn on Saturday that the process was likely to be completed this month. “They (daily wagers) will be given the PTCL pay scales from 1 to 7,” they added.

The 2,700 daily wagers were recruited after 1996. The government had announced their confirmation last year but the decision could not be implemented owing to reasons best known to the management.

However, in September last, the PTCL had regularized some 4,400 daily wagers recruited in the organization before 1996.

The regularization of the daily wagers was also part of the agreement between the PTCL management and the union.

The management has yet to implement other incentives it had announced at the time of agreement in June. They include awarding of the company’s scales to the employees, an increase of 20 per cent for the non-gazetted employees, providing jobs to the children of dead employees who had already written applications on new terms and conditions and for all such cases Rs100,000 will be given to the family of the deceased employees in the future, the existing medical policy will be discontinued in October and a fixed medical allowance of Rs1,400 per month will be paid, leave encashment up to 150 days will be allowed and the employees having at least 15 years of service in the same cadre will be given next scale.

It is also learnt that the management has delayed the implementation of the 35 per cent increase in the salary of BS 1 to 16 employees. The PTCL board of directors in its meeting held in July had approved the increase.

Sources said the PTCL had deliberately delayed the process as the new UAE company which would take over its management on Aug 18 wanted to announce the raise itself to gain the employees’ confidence.

COMPLAINT: The PTCL telecom region (south) asked its subscribers to register their complaints on telephone No 18.