Senate exposes 2,323 illegal occupants in Pakistan...

Summary

•   Islamabad: A Senate committee exposed serious problems in Pakistan Railways, with 2,323 residential quarters reported as illegally occupied and thousands of other railway houses found in questionable use, while the repeated absence of the Railways Minister and Minister of State forced two agenda items to be deferred.
• The committee was further informed that 1,732 quarters were occupied by people having no connection with Pakistan Railways, 321 were being used by unauthorized persons with no clear association with the department and 209 were occupied by retired railway employees.
• The committee directed the Inspector General Railways to register FIRs against illegal occupants, remove them from the quarters and return the properties to the railway administration.

AI Generated Summary

Islamabad: A Senate committee exposed serious problems in Pakistan Railways, with 2,323 residential quarters reported as illegally occupied and thousands of other railway houses found in questionable use, while the repeated absence of the Railways Minister and Minister of State forced two agenda items to be deferred.

The Senate Standing Committee on Railways, which met at Parliament House under Senator Shahadat Awan, was told that Pakistan Railways has 34,763 residential accommodations. Of these, 2,323 were reported as illegally occupied. The committee was further informed that 1,732 quarters were occupied by people having no connection with Pakistan Railways, 321 were being used by unauthorized persons with no clear association with the department and 209 were occupied by retired railway employees.

The Inspector General Railways told the committee that a survey carried out two months ago found 1,087 quarters had been sublet by authorized or former occupants. The survey also identified 804 quarters that had been illegally allocated, 236 quarters linked with illegal activities and 27 quarters being used for commercial purposes, including water filtration plants.