appointed PIDC chief
AAMIR SAEED
ISLAMABAD: Chairman of Benazir Income Support Pro-gramme Senator (retd) Enver Baig resigned from his position on Tuesday and was appointed as Chairman of Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC).
Baig submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a meeting before departure of the premier to Nepal to attend a Saarc summit in Kathmandu. Talking to Business Recorder, Baig said the prime minister has appointed him as chairman of PIDC and he would assume the new office after a brief hiatus.
“The prime minister has requested me to assume charge of the PIDC as its chairman and I’ll do so,” he said, adding that he would try his best to make PIDC a vibrant organisation.
He quashed rumours that he was quitting PML-N or had developed any differences with senior leadership of the party. “I am not leaving the party and would continue to serve it whatever responsibility is given to me,” he said.
Baig said that it was an honour for him that the prime minister accepted his resignation and appointed him as chairman of another prestigious organisation.
“I want you to be part of my team,” Baig said, quoting the prime minister.
He, however, admitted that he could not do what he had envisioned as chairman of the BISP. “There were certain hurdles in running the affairs of BISP so I decided to quit honorably,” he said.
BISP was initiated in October 2008 with an initial allocation of Rs34 billion by the PPP government. The PML-N government increased budgetary allocation to BISP to Rs118 billion in fiscal year 2014-15.
The programme aims to cover almost 40 percent of the population below the poverty line by running different social welfare programmes besides giving a monthly stipend of Rs1500.
An official of the BISP told Business Recorder that Baig was not comfortable with bureaucracy of the organisation and failed to get a secretary of his choice for the programme.
“He was a toothless chairman as all the important work was being done through senior officials,” he said.
Baig was appointed chairman of the BISP in November last year.
