ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Railways’ (PR) revenue generation has witnessed a 20 percent decline owing to the current economic situation of the country, senior ministry officials said.
The officials, while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on PR, here on Wednesday said that due to the ongoing economic situation, the revenue generated from the passenger trains has declined by 20 percent, whereas, the freight revenue, in which the transportation of coal to Sahiwal power plant, which generates 320 Mega Watts of electricity, also showed a downward trend.
The Standing Committee on Railways was under the chairmanship of Muhammad Mueen Wattoo to discuss various matters pertaining to the PR including a recent rape incident at Okara railway station.
Salman Sadiq Sheikh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pakistan Railways gave a detailed briefing to the committee members upon the issues faced by the Ministry of Railways.
The CEOPR briefed the committee on the financial challenges faced by Pakistan Railways. The CEO mentioned that Railways is the only ministry itself managing own expenditure, including salaries and pension pay-outs by the revenues it generates, rather than relying on the government.
The committee members and the ministry officials showed grave concern over the matter, as it depicts that passengers are not switching to travel by rail, which is less costly, from other, more expensive modes of travel, revealing an underlying issue of below-par services. The committee showed a resolve to travel by rail for a trial journey to probe into the matter. In order to uplift revenue from freight, the committee advised the ministry to analyse the feasibility of transportation of fuel, gypsum, and other materials via freight trains.
Upon the request from the ministry, the committee pledged to take up the matter of either allocation of a budget Rs20 billion or relief from payment of pensions (which would then be paid by the federal government) with the government. The committee members also recommended that the federal government must provide clarity on the mission statement of the Ministry of Railways, is it a profit-making entity or a social service.
Upon the incident of the rape of a girl at Railway Station Okara, the ministry provided the details of the incident to the committee and intimated that the perpetrators have been caught and other staff on-duty at the time had been suspended for their negligence.
While discussing a calling attention notice moved by Qadir Khan Mandokhail, the committee showed concern for the contract made for Railways School near Kala Pull Karachi, a video of which emerged on social media, showing that female students were made to do janitorial tasks.
The ministry explained that the administrative control of the school was given to a third party due to the inability of the Ministry of Railways to maintain the school due to financial constraints. The committee identified that the administrative control was transferred through a non-competitive and politically-driven process, and demanded that the contract should be declared null and void, and a competitive process should be introduced through advertisement on an immediate basis.
Upon the issue of encroachment upon the land of Railways in Zhob, the ministry informed the committee that the matter is sub-judice. The committee desired that a police check-post to establish the presence of the department in the region.
The committee demanded updates on the Railway Stations of Haveli Lakkhan, Mandi-Ahmedabad, and Nasir Pull.
The meeting was attended by Ali Pervaiz, Muhammad Khan Daha, Engr Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani, Chaudhary Muhammad Hamid Hameed, Nauman Islam Shaikh, Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, and Ramesh Lal. Moreover, Qadir Khan Mandokhail, MNA/ mover of the calling attention motion attended the meeting. The senior officers from the Ministry of Railways, Pakistan Railways, and Railways Police were also present in the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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