PSM: Senate panel reviews financial, security issues

Business Recorder reported that a Senate sub-committee on industries and production met at the Pakistan Steel Mills premises on Monday to examine the mill's finances and administration. Agenda items included its liabilities, staff shortfalls and a series of theft cases. Senators Syed Masroor Ahsan, Syeda Khalida Ateeb and Danesh Kumar took part in the session.

PSM officials told the panel that roughly 190 guards are available, many in need of professional training. They added that the Defence Security Force, which has been helping with security, is due to pull its personnel out by Sept. 30, 2026. Management asked for a phased exit, arguing that more time would allow it to build internal capacity and outsource guarding services.

Senators stressed that convictions remain rare despite hundreds of suspects being arrested, and called for stronger investigation and prosecution. One senator described the thefts as organised rather than isolated, and questioned accountability in an earlier case involving a gas valve. The panel was also briefed on encroachment of roughly 290 acres of mill land, where three union councils were reportedly set up, and recommended that finance authorities help PSM recruit security staff.