Spendthrift PSUs told to tighten purse strings

NEW DELHI: The government has said that every public sector company will set up a committee for implementation of austerity measures with representation from administrative ministries. The committee will identify areas and adopt measures to check leakage.

The department of public enterprises��� (DPE) direction followed recent sops doled out by some navratna companies in the form of soft-loans and salary advances.

���The administrative ministries have been asked to implement DPE direction. The proposed committee will also ensure implementation of existing guidelines (of DPE) on austerity measures,��� said a DPE official who did not
wished to be named.

���The PSUs are also told to restrain doling out loans and advances as this leads to a race among the PSUs. Besides, there are some companies that are not in the position to match the competition,��� the official said.

Some PSUs recently announced a monthly increase between Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 to their staff (depending on position) even before the Second Pay Commission���s recommendations were implemented.

Following the direction, some PSUs have already formed committees, he said. ���Steel major Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has formed five task forces to cut expenses in five different areas. Each task force is headed by a director-level official,��� said a company official.

Almost all major PSUs such as Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), Gas Authority of India (Gail) and all the major Oil companies offered around 25% interim increase in existing salaries of their staff.