The National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works on Thursday gave assent that the National Assembly may pass "the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2019," seeking to provide affordable houses to employees of the federal government and other specified groups.

The committee which met with Engineer Mohammad Najeeb Haroon in the chair discussed the draft of the bill in detail and recommend that the National Assembly may pass the bill.

During the meeting, the committee was informed that the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) is mandated to arrange affordable residential accommodation to the employees of the federal government and other specified groups on the basis of no profit no loss.

The jurisdiction of the bill extends to whole of Pakistan. The committee was further informed that the FGEHF is not a regulatory body and it has to go through lengthy process of seeking permissions and NOCs [no objection certificates] from different authorities for launching its projects.

Officials of the FGEHF said that the maintenance of existing schemes is not possible until the foundation is given the status of an authority. The ministry also requested the committee to pass the said Bill. The committee, therefore, recommended that the National Assembly may pass "The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2019."

About the Recovery of Mortgage-backed Security Bill, 2019, the committee was informed by the ministry that since the Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority" was running its business under the direct command of the Prime Minister, thus, the said Bill should be considered by the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.

The committee decided to refer the said bill to the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat for its consideration and report to the National Assembly.

About the release of funds to Sindh province by the federal government under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Program, the director general Pak-PWD informed the committee that the steering committee, headed by Defense Minister Pervaiz Khattak has approved release of Rs 34 billion with respect to 488 proposed development schemes of the MNAs under the said SDGs program.

The committee directed the department concerned to ensure execution of development schemes of all the MNAs belonging to the province of Sindh irrespective of their party affiliation.

Regarding the review of amendment in rule 15(2)(b) of the Accommodation Allocation Rule, 2002, concerning exclusion of the married son of a government servant, the committee was informed by the ministry that the case in question has been referred to Law and Justice Division for vetting.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema, MNAs Anwar Taj, Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar, Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Syed Iftikhar ul Hassan and Syed Agha Rafiullah. The senior officers of Ministry of Housing and Works, Federal Government Employees Housing Authority, Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation, Pak-PWD, Estate Office, Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Law and Justice were also present in the meeting.