ISLAMABAD: Ahead of the proposed introduction of the private sector for divestment and management contracts, the Pakistan caretaker set-up has banned all forms of union activities in the power sector.
This decision covers all public sector power companies, including those in the business of generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity, bringing them under the scope of the “Pakistan Essential Service (Maintenance) Act (Pesma) 1952”.
A federal cabinet decision based on summary moved by the interior ministry at the request of the power division, a senior government official said.
He said the cabinet approved “the application of the Pakistan Essential Service (Maintenance) Act 1952 to all classes of employment” under Pakistan Power Sector Entities, including distribution companies (Discos), generation companies (Gencos) and National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) of the Ministry of Energy, Power Division (MEPD).
Discos, Gencos and NTDC as ‘essential services’
Under the decisions, all these companies have been declared as “essential services” under Section 3 of the Pesma 1952 “to restrict all kind of union activities for a period of six months”, extendable for another six months.
The government has already decided in principle to exclude the option of offering power companies to distribution and is currently working on divesting two Discos — one loss-making and one profitable — to be followed by a subsequent course of action about other entities.
The Pesma 1952 deals with maintenance of certain essential services. As per Section 3 of the Act, the federal government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any employment or class of employment for a period of six months, extendable for further periods not exceeding six months.
The federal government is of the opinion that such employment or class of employment is essential service for the purpose of “securing the defence of the security of Pakistan or any part thereof and maintenance of such supplies or services as relates to any matter with regard to which Central Legislature power to make laws and are essential to the life of the community”.
