IT was a week of shifts and changes for some important institutions and structures in Karachi. On June 16, 1975 it was announced that PIA would build a modern cargo complex at Karachi airport to facilitate movement of goods by air. To that end, a feasibility study prepared by a team of foreign consultants for construction work had been accepted in principle. The team was due to visit Pakistan soon to give the final shape to the study in light of the changes which PIA wanted. The airline’s marketing department claimed, after completion, the cargo complex would be the second largest in the region.

Movement was on the cards for an educational institution, too, but not with reference to goods. On June 18, this newspaper reported that NED Engineering College was to be shifted to its new campus near the University of Karachi by December after the first phase of the project would finish at a cost of Rs6.7crore. Arrangements had already been made to start second-year engineering classes from the month of July in the six rooms now ready to be used. It was expected to ease the accommodation problem in the present college building in the heart of the city. The new structure was being built on a 100-acre plot of land. The second phase was expected to begin in 1976-77 to be completed in 1980. By that time, it would have adequate facilities for post-graduate classes and research work, and accommodation for up to 2,000 students. Under the first phase, which commenced in February 1974, 18 classrooms, 44 other rooms, two lecture halls, five drawing rooms, and 32 labs and workshops were constructed for 1,500 students.

Going along with the theme of expansion, on June 18 it was reported that the Karachi Telecommunications Region planned to increase the number of public telephone booths, extra department call offices and coin boxes [in booths] in the Sindh capital during the next financial year. However, it depended on the production of equipment by the Telephone Industries of Pakistan at Hazara and the quota made available to the region. At the time, there were 182 booths in Karachi, 54 extra department public call offices and 170 coin boxes.

If growth was the focus of certain institutions, the banking sector was not happy with the way things were taking place in their domain. In the ongoing year, the finance division issued a Wage Commission Report to establish standardised pay scales. Bankers didn’t like it. On June 16, bank employees in the city observed a one-hour token strike to press for their demands for withdrawal of the Wage Commission Report (WCR) and restoration of collective bargaining rights. The Action Committee of the Pakistan Bank Employees Federation said the strike would continue until its demands were met.

On June 18, the [bank] federation claiming to have 80000 members appealed to the federal finance minister and the MNAs to move an amendment bill to make the Wage Commission Report ‘attractive’. The Pakistan National Federation of Trade Unions in a press release also disapproved the WCR and feared that it would create unrest. It extended its full support to the bank employees and urged the government to withdraw the report.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2025