News
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Zardari steps in to rescue Pakistan Railways* President advises govt to release funds for payment of railway salaries, pensions
* Meeting held to discuss issues facing Pakistan Railways
* Railway minister claims that most trains, equipment are outdated and obsolete
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday advised the government to release funds within seven days for the payment of salaries and pensions of railway employees, who have been protesting against the non-payment of salaries.
The president was speaking at a high-level meeting in the Presidency held to discuss the issues facing Pakistan Railways.
Private sector entrepreneurs were also invited to the meeting to discuss public-private partnership model for revamping railways, he said.
The president also advised the government to arrange a loan of Rs six billion for locomotive repairs and purchase of new locomotives. The loan will be used exclusively for this purpose and will not be diverted for any other purpose.
The president gave this directive when Railways Minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour pointed out that because of the non-availability of locomotives, freight trains had been suspended and the revenue from cargo transportation had come down from Rs nine billion a year to almost zero at present.
He said that the cargo service was the most critical element of Pakistan Railways. The president said that this matter ought to be taken up in the Council of Common Interests as railways services were utilised by all provinces and the issue was inter-provincial in nature. The president also said that Pakistan Railways needed to reorient itself to introduce corporate culture in its organisation while simultaneously undertaking comprehensive administrative, financial and human resource reforms.
The president mentioned that merely injecting more finances by the government alone, and that too when the country’s economy was under severe stress, was no permanent solution.
Federal Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Secretary Railways Javed Iqbal and General Manager Pakistan Railways Saeed Akhtar briefed the meeting about the various causes that had contributed towards the deterioration of the organisation and the various ways that it could be resuscitated.
Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said that half of the total locomotives were out of order, 86 percent of the bridges were more than 100 years old, signalling that the system was obsolete, the telecommunications system was outdated and the track overaged. He said efforts were underway to attract private investment to shore up the organisations declining resources.
The railways minister claimed that a crisis management programme had been put in place to explore the possibility of repairing locomotives in collaboration with the private sector, as well as hiring or leasing them from other countries. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk