Forget the financial crunch… we are great people to ‘sing’ with

The national flag carrier – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) – is said to be passing through the worst of times both financially and technically, but it can still afford to organise a musical event with an initial budget of Rs 50 million – thanks to some very talented and creative employees.
Well-placed sources in PIA told Pakistan Today that due to the negative feedback about its affairs in recent times, the airline wants to portray a positive image and its Brand Department General Manager Aneesa Rehman has suggested hosting a musical evening at the archaeological site of Mohenjodaro in Larkana, costing the national airline a whopping Rs 50 million that could even rise more.
“Rehman thinks the PIA can achieve a better image through musical events and Rs 50 million would be sufficient to arrange a concert at Mohenjodaro,” they said. “The PIA managing director was actually quite happy to approve the budget last month.”
“The stage is set to arrange the musical event in January for reviving Mohenjodaro as a tourist spot. The most likely chief guest of the event is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” they added.
The sources, however, said the Rs 50 million budget is only an initial estimate and the actual costs may go up to Rs 80 million. “For that, Rehman is trying hard to curtail the budgets of other financially viable divisions like In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) and Advertising by taking them under her division,” they said. “The annual budget of her own department is Rs 130 million, while the total budget of Public Affairs Department’s Advertising and IFE divisions is Rs 90 million each.”
‘The brand general manager intends to curtail the budgets of these departments and thus make the Mohenjodaro event a great success for portraying a softer image of the PIA,” the sources said.
They claimed that the PIA brand general manager has strong political backing and is to retire in February 2012. “Through the success of the Larkana concert, she will try to get an extension in her service,” they added.
“Last month, the PIA brand general manager also held an introductory programme in Marriot Hotel for 500 people with the cost of Rs 20 million to lobby for the Mohenjodaro concert. But the show turned to be a flop and only attracted an audience of 100 people, resulting in a massive loss for the national airlines,” the sources said.
“After being removed from the PIA’s Public Affairs Department around the mid of this year, Rehman managed to create a new post of general manager for herself in the Brands Department. The first thing she did after taking charge was to remove Brands Deputy General Manager Noshervan Adil, as he was not willing to work under her supervision. She then managed to appoint her close aide Chakar Ali Shah as the deputy director general.
“Shah had been serving as a first officer and does not hold the prerequisite master of business administration degree required for the post. However, besides being a friend of Rehman, he also is the son of former PIA Deputy Managing Director MM Shah.
“Rehman also succeeded in appointing her another aide Ghazal Batool as assistant manager advertising in the Public Affairs Department solely on political backing, in spite of her illegibility for the said position as she holds a master’s degree in Islamabad. In just three years of her appointment, Batool was promoted to Group 7 from Group 5, while a promotion based on merit requires almost 10 years in PIA,” the sources said.
When contacted by Pakistan Today, Rehman said the date of the musical programme has not been confirmed yet but it would be held most likely by the end of January. “We don’t know who will be the chief guest as the matter is still to be decided,” she added.
The musical evening – in the name of promoting tourism besides creating a softer image of the PIA – will feature live performances from Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen.