PTDC employees protest against golden handshake scheme

Rawalpindi : The situation in Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has become tense as its employees as well as of Flashman's Hotel on Monday set up a protest camp at the Flashman Hotel for illegal deployment of officers on deputation to PTDC, leasing property to provinces and laying off employees through forced golden handshake scheme.

The PTDC and Flashman’s Hotel employees unions’ office-bearers told the journalists that no managing director has been appointed in the corporation for more than a year and duties of MDs are assigned on an additional charge to different officers. The assigned managing directors have no time to meet workers and even media men at the pretext of being busy in meetings. After former managing director, Ch. Ghafoor Khan who left in July 2018 all promotional, publicity and development activities in PTDC have come to a halt. Instead of appointing permanent managing director, the government over the last one year deputed four acting managing directors in PTDC who didn't take any steps for promotion and publicity of tourism, the employees alleged.

They protesting employees alleged that Syed Intikhab Alam is a government officer of the 19 grade, who has been posted as PTDC general manager on deputation and given additional charge of managing director for three months. Apart from Syed Intikhab Alam, two more officers of 19 grade, Najeeb Akram and Babar Javed, have also been appointed to key posts on deputation while ignoring senior officers of PTDC serving since long years.

The assigned officers are busy in sending the PTDC employees home in the name of the golden handshake scheme, appointing favourites as new employees in the name of restructuring of the organisation as well as planning to handover PTDC's properties to the provinces for further leasing. In this regard, these officers abide by all laws and official procedures.

These people are down to send home more than 700 employees thus taking bread and butter of their families. PTDC employees worked day and night to promote tourism in remote areas and introduced Pakistan's tourism not only in the country but worldwide.

Representatives of the two unions added that protests would be continued and national strike would be initiated from next week, unless the deputed personnel were removed and employees were rescued from the golden handshake.

Though employees protested making their own allegations, however, the PTDC Managing Director, Syed Intikhab Alam while giving views cleared that the protest by employees is not against newly designated officers. Rather their protest is against the decision of Golden Handshake Scheme to be implemented nearly.

Further briefing, the managing director said that a committee was formed by the government in which the union representatives of PTDC were also invited to discuss on the point of golden handshake. During the committee meeting, the union members left without holding talks or giving their suggestions.

To a question, Intikhab Alam said that Golden Handshake would be enforced on all employees and not against only those staff whose service is near to end.

To yet another question, he stated that on the reasons of improving and promoting tourism, the government has deputed senior officials to run the affairs of PTDC in better and efficient way.