Kind attention of PM solicited-II

Head of PPP Media Cell
Kind attention of the honourable prime minister is solicited to the following agonising problems facing the retired government servants making their life miserable:
a) PHA was required to hand over housing units to them by 2014 under the Kuri Housing Project, Islamabad. Today, even the infrastructure to the extent of 5% has not been completed on the site not to speak of delivering complete housing units. Payment schedule being observed by the allotees.
b) Government servants were allotted residential plots in G/14 sector, Islamabad, in 2006 through Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation but the building of infrastructure has not commenced yet despite the Islamabad High Court’s judgment last year to get the sector vacated from the encroachers by ITC.
c) The I/8 sector model presents the out of box solution of the above imbroglio without financial implications to the government.
There have been a number of reports in the newspaper in the recent past regarding the government’s decision to award two plots to grade 22 officers in Islamabad — the practice introduced by the ex-prime minister Shaukat Aziz. It was jettisoned after strong reaction from media and Public Accounts Committee describing it as an “institutional bribe” based on the narrative of mollycoddling. The lamentable outcome is inevitable because the implementation of the of two plots policy will add to the already frustrated lot of the retired government servants who were given one plot about eight years ago and still waiting to build houses to live in. After retirement, the senior retired government servants (SRGS) have to go from pillar to post but their once juniors will treat them like any other applicant seeking the redressal of grievances. The powerful in service secretaries will be facing the same torturous situation in chasing the possession of their two plots but their assiduous efforts will prove futile to their utter dismay.
The plight of the retired civil servants was brought to the attention of the honourable prime minister in an article published on 28th of last month (April) in this esteemed national daily. We, now all senior citizens, indebted to the management of this daily for highlighting the festering issue that may lead to jolt the conscience of the PHA and ITC officials to pay due attention to the conundrum that has been on the tenterhooks for almost a decade. The Pakistan Housing Authority is required to facilitate the retired government servants in making their dream of owning a house true. But, it sounds a far-fetched cry in the wake of its typical lassitude. Its performance in this count is squarely shattering their dreams in the real sense of the word.
The Kuri Road Housing Project is such an example which was launched in 2008 and housing units under its auspices were to be delivered by 2014. The allotees, (SRGS), had made payment to the extent of 70% but the work so far carried out is not worth mentioning. Delivering the complete housing units seemed a distant reality because even the basic infrastructures — roads, sewerage, electricity, water etc — have not been completed even to the extent of 5%. It is firm understanding of every one that PHA will not be able to execute this project for another decade and prices will shoot up at the expense of allotees making it almost impossible for them to bear the burden of extra staggering cost.
The prime minister may be pleased to direct the authorities to settle it amicably on the pattern of I/8 sector as the PHA’s administrative labyrinth juxtaposed with the lack of requisite commitment and conflict of interest will not let the project to see the light of the day.
The prime minister is keen to see the government employees are provided with decent residential accommodation on the ownership basis but there is no dearth of those who are bent upon to scuttle the plans by creating hurdles in the way of the implementation of PM’s directives.
Another such gruesome example is of the G-14/3 sector where plots were allotted to the government servants in 2006 as per the criterion laid down by the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation. The (SRGS) had made full payment long ago but no development work, whatsoever, has been carried out by the agencies that were given the task. Islamabad High Court judgment last year directed the Housing Foundation to compensate the legitimate claimants. The Housing Foundation transferred the funds to ITC for the implementation of the judgment of the IHC but ITC has failed to comply with the judgment. The houourablr chief justice of IHC may kindly take suo motto as it is matter of providing relief to hundreds of retired helpless civil servants and their families.
The deplorable part is that the ITC has not paid the money of award to the claimants despite the fact that the Housing Foundation had given money for this purpose. The IHC judgment could not be implemented and the agencies also found a convenient excuse of not undertaking development works in the sector because the sector has not been cleared off the encroachers who are still there.
SRGS do not foresee the denouement of this nightmare any time soon. They are pinning their hopes to the prime minister as when he will give clear cut instructions to the Pakistan Housing Authority and the ITC to settle the problem within given time. Those who are manning the PHA and ITC affairs should be warned that their failure of resolving the issue will establish their lack of administrative acumen. With this kind of warning, they will not only resolve it on time but also surely before time. The god forsaken government servants will remain beholden to the prime minister for the rest of their lives.
Overwhelming majority of (SRGS) is living in hired houses that eat away their pensions and how they manage the affairs is not difficult to anticipate. They had put their life time savings in the dream house but the evening years of their life are passing with accelerated speed with prospects of forlorn hope. They are no more in a position to harness a clout to redress their grievances. They are hoping that God may create a soft corner for the (SRGS) in the heart of the Chief Executive who may take it upon himself and ensure that the two projects are completed. They deserve the intervention of the prime minister because without it the projects will remain as these are. But, the allotees may “travel to undiscovered country. From whose bourn no traveler returns”, as beautifully depicted by Shakespeare in Hamlet.
The victims of the Pakistan Housing Authority and Housing Foundation are highly educated and civilized people who would hate to take extreme steps to draw the attention of the top mandarins. They cannot stand outside the Parliament, Shaheed-i-Millat Secretariat or the Press Club, Islamabad, to protest the apathy of the government organisations. However, they will continue their efforts to highlight their miseries in decent manners with the hope that their endeavours will bear fruit. They need to get united and meet periodically to formulate strategy for projecting their case effectively. Their valuable suggestions will strengthen our hands to move forward and gain requisite momentum for an early overcoming of their difficulties.
muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com