ISLAMABAD, Dec 28: The federal minister for information technology and telecommunication, Awais Ahmad Leghari, has said that he will not support any plan to lay off employees from the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).

The minister was talking to a delegation of PTCL workers, who met him here on Saturday. The federal minister for information and media development, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, was also present on the occasion.

Mr Leghari said: “Plans will be prepared to utilize the capabilities of each worker in a more effective manner and increase his contributions towards overall productivity of the PTCL.”

He assured the workers that their recommendations would be given a serious consideration. He also issued instructions for submission of a report by the telecom company on issues raised by the workers.

“As the telecom sector stands deregulated from January 2003, the PTCL will be facing challenges of competition in the deregulated scenario.”

So there should be harmony between the administration and workers to enable the PTCL to face future challenges and increase its productivity and efficiency, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said the government would make all possible efforts to solve the problems of every section of the society.

The information minister said he would continue to make personal efforts to help the masses and raise their issue at every fora.

Earlier, the delegation apprised the minister of various problems faced by the PTCL workers and union, including financial and administrative issues.

The minister was informed by the delegation that a large number of employees working on daily wages basis since last ten years were facing the problem of job insecurity.

General meeting: Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Akhtar Ahmad Bajwa has expressed the resolve of company’s management and staff to further improve services for customers and increase shareholder value of the company with even higher dedication in the coming years.

The chairman was presiding over the 7th Annual General Meeting of the PTCL here on Saturday.

He said the PTCL subsidiaries were performing well, however, efforts would be made to further improve their services. He assured the shareholders that the telecom company would even- handedly deal with all the subsidiaries.

Mr Bajwa made it clear that the PTCL had universal service obligations for which it had taken special measures, including promotion of IT and internet in the country. He expressed dissatisfaction over state of teledensity in the country and vowed to increase it manifold. He hoped that teledensity would improve after the deregulation of the telecom sector.

The chairman said future belonged to mobile and data communications, therefore “we will have to prepare ourselves for that scenario.” The PTCL is keen to improve the services of Pak Telecom Mobile Limited and Paknet so that the IT related needs of the customers could be met effectively, he added.

Mr Bajwa underlined the need for better customer care and efficient telecom services. He asked his staff and management to pay special attention towards this subject and improve customer care facilities.

“Impending deregulation scenario has made it incumbent upon all of us to try not only to retain the existing customers but to attract new ones as well.”

The shareholders adopted a unanimous resolution in which they lauded the over all performance of the company and hoped that it would continue to yield similar results in the future.

The meeting also discussed at length the PTCL accounts for the year which ended on June 30, 2002, as well as the auditors and directors reports on the accounts.