Senate sub-committee on delegated legislation in its meeting on Tuesday has asked ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications to submit review of the draft amendments in Pakistan Telecom (Re-organization) Act, 1996 prepared by SCO and approved by GHQ.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Daud Khan Achakzai here at the Parliament House on Tuesday.
The draft amendments were not shared with the committee well in time and the members were hence not able to provide and observations on the same. The committee asked both stakeholders i.e. SCOs and M/O IT&T to hold a consultation and submit views on the amendments to the committee by 10th of March.
The meeting also had a briefing by Pakistan Telecommunication Employees Trust (PTET). The committee was told that the trust was established in 1996, and has a board of trustees comprising six members; three of whom are nominated by the federal government while three are nominated by PTCL.
The trust has two major functions including dispersing pensions and investments and has separate rules for both functions.
The representatives of PTET told the committee that apparently no need has risen asking for any amendments in the rules and they are well in place fulfilling the functions required. The members will give their recommendations on these rules in the next meeting after considering them.
The member of the committee Senator Javed Abbasi expressed concerns on the status of the employees of the trust and said that the rules do not specify whether the employees are considered government employees or as part of a master servant relationship.
PTET representatives told that there are two types of employees varying on the basis of recruitment before or after 1996 when these rules were formulated.
The committee will hold a detailed discussion on the status of employees in the next meeting.
