KARACHI - The meeting of board of directors of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) has approved the financial proposals for the year. The amount of Rs 1.50 billion demanded by CBA and Rs 150 million for development of Junior Officers (JOs) has been approved along with other financial needs of PSM, said the source. The source added that during the first week of May the circular on the subject of monetary statements will be issued, the administration of PSM will then work on the statements and by the end of May the notification for the implementation of these proposed statements will be put into practice. The representative of JOs has expressed relief on behalf of the committee as the long awaited issue of promotions of JOs has been solved. The Chairman of PSM and the Board of Directors have given their consent and now the JOs has to wait till June for the implementation of this circular. The Junior Officers had been informed about this development after the meeting of BoD, the Chairman PSM and Chairman CBA told the employees about this progress. The source added that during the meeting the financial statement of Steel Mills for the year has been approved. CBA has presented Charter of Demand in the meeting, which discussed the short and long-term benefits for the workers, the budget proposed for the welfare of workers by CBA comprises of Rs 1.5 billion. The amount of Rs 150 million has been allocated for the benefit of Junior Officers (JOs) on yearly bases; the maintenance plans for the plants at Steel Mills had also been discussed in the meeting. The pending issue of the promotions of JOs has been solved as it has been the demand of these JOs that inter departmental promotions and financial benefits should be allowed to them. The JOs should be promoted to assistant officers according to their education and experience in the Steel Mills and it should be started from 2005. It is worth noting that these JOs are at the key posts at the plants in Steel Mills, they are experienced and technically trained workers. An official from the PSM said that the financial demands that have been proposed by the committee formed for resolving the JOs issue is beyond Chairmans jurisdiction. The Chairman had forwarded the matter to the Ministry which has sent it back to the Chairman for approval from the board of directors. It is noteworthy that these JOs have been waiting for their promotion since last 20 years, they were changed forcefully to junior officers in 1992. Upon their huge protest, the management of Pakistan Steel Mill had formed a committee consisting of management of PSM, CBM and representatives of junior officers, two members from each group. This committee had planned out a policy in order to resolve the issue. This policy was approved by the Chairman Pakistan Steel on 28 November 2008. This forceful act abolished the due rights of these JOs, including lesser house rents, out of which 20 pc amount is still awaited. Medicines and its limits had been reduced. These rights had been given to the other lower staffers but denied to skilled workers whom the management had promoted as officer. They demanded the management that it should notify the fact that working under same condition; junior officers compare their benefits with other workers. The difference in benefits and other due rights among the employees of the same organisation has largely affected the working ability of the workers. In order to have industrial stability, the management of Pakistan Steel should work to resolve these problems.