Officials from Pakistan Steel Mills told the Senate Standing Committee on Industries on Friday that the mills had lost Rs18 million due to instances of theft.

Members of the committee expressed grave concern when they were told that the theft included machinery and other assets and number of such instances had gone up in 2021.

The meeting was told that the main reason behind the theft was the mills were located in a deserted an empty place.

It was also revealed that the mill had over 9,000 employees in 2021 but the number of theft had gone up as the number of workers went down.

Officials added that a total of 45 FIRs have been filed against the theft. They added that two cases had been dismissed while 28 were still in courts.

According to details, 15 FIRs have been kept in class A. The officials also said that 12 officers had been involved in theft out of which 7 had been dismissed.

It was also revealed that the post of CEO has been lying vacant even though the rules made it clear that the hiring had to be completed within 14 days.

The committee’s chairman instructed that the CEO should be hired as soon as possible.