ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) to return the control of Telephone Industries of Pakistan (TIP) to the information technology (IT) ministry.

According to a letter issued by the IT ministry recently, the prime minister has ordered that the state-run telephone industries may continue to remain under the control of the IT ministry which was reportedly responsible for the downfall of TIP.

The information technology ministry had handed over the strategic industry to the SPD’s allied department Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in a very sick condition last September. In one year, however, the sick telephone industry was nursed back to health by the KRL. Now it is being returned to the same ministry which had allegedly turned it into a sick unit.

The employees of TIP fear that the government was considering privatising/liquidating telephone industries’ assets worth billions of rupees despite the fact that the organisation was no more a sick unit. The main attraction behind the liquidation plans, they said, was the precious land of TIP, which included a plot measuring 1,333 sq ft in front of Parliament House and its vast land for its factory/warehouse measuring 2,400 kanals in Haripur, a senior official of the TIP, requesting not to be named, said.

After the decision of the prime minister to return TIP to the information technology ministry, the fate of the industries and its 1,700 employees hangs in balance as it would be difficult for the ministry to pay even the salaries of the employees. This is the reason why the ministry had demanded of the finance division to provide it Rs60 million every month in order to pay the salaries of the employees.

The previous government handed over TIP to SPD in September 2007 along with all its liabilities of over Rs1 billion. In addition to this, TIP had to recover over Rs850 million from various government departments.

Earlier, TIP and PTCL were a single unit but after the privatisation of the company in 2005, TIP remained attached with the IT ministry till 2008. During this period four budgets were announced but no increase was made in the pays of the employees, restricting their average monthly salary to Rs3,800.

Officials claimed that under the control of the IT ministry, the TIP output had become zero bringing to a halt drop-wire production as well as the manufacture of various modules of telephones. The only production being carried out at the industries is that of the single phase energy meter, but even on this, TIP has defaulted on the orders placed by Wapda.

As SPD had tasked KRL to revive TIP with the support of its experts and planners, the KRL team repaired rusty machines of the industries’ main office in Haripur, ran the organisation on modern lines and turned it into a viable entity.

TIP, which had a bank balance of Rs0.9 million last year, now has Rs80 million in its bank accounts because of the increase in its monthly sales. Out of Rs850 million disputed/recoverable amount, Rs300 million has been recovered and bank loans of Rs900 million have been rescheduled.

The new management of TIP had also made several contracts with leading companies in Europe on the basis of Transfer of Technology (ToT) such as futuristic (PBX) exchanges from 2N Telecommunication, static energy meters from ZTA and batteries and modules from Iskratel of Slovenia.

Now when the prime minister has accorded an approval to transfer TIP to the IT ministry, it has also made a similar demand asking Rs60 million per month for the remaining period of financial year.

“We are bearing the financial burden to revive the industries but the salary of the employees is a separate issue and being government employees it should be the responsibility of the government to pay their monthly salaries,” the KRL official said.

Some corruption cases were also registered against TIP officials by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) when it was working under the IT ministry. The charges ranged from massive bungling in purchase of FWT wireless sets from Korea to the establishment of satellite communication system through Sparco, Lahore.

When contacted, IT Secretary Hifzur Rehman gave a contradictory statement. He said the ministry would not run TIP and it would be privatised. But simultaneously he said TIP would be handed over to a government department which intends to run it.

Earlier, the secretary said TIP had not been working under the ministry since 2006 because it was operating under the companies act after being separated from PTCL and Siemens, two other shareholders in TIP.

“Both the PTCL and Siemens had transferred shares of the telephone industries three months ago and now it was working under a board headed by him,” he said.

The official denied the claim of the TIP management that it had been revived, saying: “If TIP has been revived then it is a matter of great satisfaction but those who claimed about its revival should come up with documentary evidence before the board and prove it,” he said.