Iqra Block: an introduction

It was the year 1982 when two adjacent plots of land bearing number 17 & 18 at the prime location of Block 15 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Karachi were allotted to the Income Tax Department for a total consideration of Rs 3.43 million.
The combined area of the plots was approximately two acres; precisely 4900 square feet. In October 2000, the then Finance Minister Mr Shaukat Aziz visited the Income Tax Department. Mr Mohammad Shafi Malik, the then Regional Commissioner of Income Tax, Southern Region, Karachi, floated the proposal of construction of offices and residential accommodation for the officers of the Income Tax Department. Mr Shaukat Aziz in his graciousness while giving verbal approval of the plan, also announced sanction of funds for the project thereupon the then Commissioner of Income Tax, Zone 'E', Karachi, Agha Kafeel Barik had promptly had the PC-I etc prepared which got the nod of approval of the Planning & Development Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad in February 2000. Later, a total amount of Rs 67.7 million was finally approved by the Planning Commission in June 2003 under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2003-2004.
Initially, the office building was planned to accommodate offices of Zone 'E', Karachi housed in a rented premises but later on, the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) decided to allocate the ground floor of the building to the Karachi office of the Directorate of Training (DOT). However, the plans later had to and the Corporate Region, Karachi along with its subordinate field formations were shifted to the newly constructed premises in August 2005. This was done to allow the Income Tax House at Kamal Ata Turk Road, Karachi to undergo a complete remodelling of its internal structure to meet the requirements of the upcoming Regional Tax Office (RTO), Karachi.
The residential accommodation originally designed for departmental officers, had however, to be put to an emergent use to accommodate the 31st batch of probationary officers of the Income Tax Group for the duration of their one-year degree course at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi.
It was accordingly decided to prepare the living quarters ensuring comfort, grace and dignified living for our young officers. The finishing of civil works and the furnishing of the premises on a short notice of seven days was no mean task. However, it was a job done with dedication and now we can sit back and feel satisfied in the realisation that the residential complex fittingly named as "Iqra Block" has been duly furnished with facilities including individual personal computers, telephones, comfortable furniture, and recreation rooms equipped with TV sets and indoor games facilities. Provision for outdoor sports has also been created and a proper tennis court will soon be added for use by the officers. With this, it is hoped that the Iqra Block of the Regional Tax Office Karachi would stands as a model of departmental harmony not only in the collection of revenues, and also creating facilities to grooming out young officers be befittingly.