The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has postponed the planned strike after receiving an assurance from the Water and Power Minister that the provision of electricity supply to the textile sector would be made by December 31.
Earlier, APTMA and other leading textile associations in Pakistan had warned that they would launch a protest from December 29, in the wake of suspension of power supply to the textile sector in Punjab.
In the absence of gas and power supply, the production in Pakistan’s textile sector had come to a halt, which has put the jobs of about 10 million workers at stake, the APTMA representatives had said.
Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad, Federal Minister for Water and Power, assured APTMA representatives that the government would take special measures to provide electricity to the industrial sector, particularly the textile sector.
The Minister also appealed to the APTMA representatives to withdraw their plan to protest and invited them to come to Islamabad for a dialogue on the issue, aimed at finding out a workable solution. Based on the Minister’s assurance, representatives of APTMA decided to postpone their strike.
