PSM reality

This refers to the article, 'The saga of a mill' (June 14) by Mushtaq Rajpar. The article has been unable to recognize why successive governments have been wanting to privatise the PSM. The government's decision to give golden handshake to about 8000 workers of the mill is necessitated by ground realities. Successive governments have been wanting to privatise public sector enterprises, including Pakistan Steel, because these white elephants are an unavoidable burden on the fragile economy of the country. It must be clearly understood that almost all public sector enterprises are bursting at the seams because of excessive overstaffing resorted to by politicians in power.

These enterprises cannot be made fully functional, much less profitable unless their work forces are made commensurate with actual needs. It appears impossible to make the steel mill profitable without drastically reducing its current workforce, as is being planned by the government.

Hameed Akhtar Niazi

Islamabad