The Federal Cabinet is all set to hand over the control of five electricity distribution companies to the Pakistan Army to improve their performance.

According to a report, the cabinet will approve the establishment Performance Management Units under a serving brigadier of the army to improve their performance. The PMU will also include officers from Pakistan Administrative Service, Federal Investigation Agency and intelligence agencies.

The PMUs will be established in QESCO (Quetta), PESCO (Peshawar), SEPCO (Sukkur), MEPCO (Multan) and HESCO (Hyderabad). These five distribution companies have incurred the highest losses across the country.

As a pilot project, the first PMU will be set up in Hyderabad.

The proposal, which was finalised in the Special Investment Facilitation Council, has faced opposition from within the government but is still likely to go through.

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The finance division has also raised objections over the fact that the proposal of giving army officers control of the companies was not endorsed by the SIFC but was added later.

The SIFC had originally proposed an Anti-Theft Taskforce to be set up in each loss making DISCO. However, the power division’s proposal included the PMUs which were to be managed by army officers.

The finance division reportedly opposed the establishment of the PMUs under amy officers, saying that such measures will further destroy governance in the distribution companies.

The finance division has also raised objections over the fact that the proposal of giving army officers control of the companies was not endorsed by the SIFC but was added later.

The division has also complained that the Terms of Reference (ToRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the PMUs to be headed by army officers have not been clarified.

The DISCOs are projected to make losses of Rs589 billion in the ongoing financial year and circular debt has already reached a massive Rs1.7 trillion. The government has constantly been faced with the problem of mismangement in the companies.