NA Standing Committee given detailed briefing by Ministry of Railways upon the working & performance of the Ministry

ISLAMABAD, July 22 (SABAH): The National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways was given a detailed briefing by the Ministry of Railways upon the working and performance of the Ministry and its attached departments, which was followed by an in-depth discussion and recommendations to support the Ministry.

The 2nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Railways was held on Monday in the Committee Room of the Ministry of Railways, “D” Block, Pak-Secretariat, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Rai Hassan Nawaz, MNA.

At the outset, the Secretary, Ministry of Railways apprised the Committee that the Ministry looking after all the matters pertaining to Pakistan Railways, safety/maintenance of railway lines for strategic reasons and coordinating in development projects of railways as a part of the national development program. He said that the Ministry also negotiated with international organizations and other countries and implemented the agreements with them.

While briefing on the transport and economy at the macroeconomic level, the Secretary informed the Committee that transportation is linked to a level of output, employment and income. He said that transportation accounts between 6% and 12% of the GDP in many countries. Logistic costs can account between 6% and 25% of the GDP, he added. However, at the microeconomic level, transportation is linked with producer, consumer and distribution costs. He further stated that transportation accounted, on average, between 10% and 15% of household expenditure.

The Secretary also briefed about various issues combating by Ministry of Railways. He explained that 95% of budget was being utilized on pension, pay and fuel. There was no targeted subsidy for Ministry. The priority of the Government was road network instead of Railways network in the country. He also informed the Committee regarding cost cutting and revenue optimization, restructuring, rightsizing, improvement, upgradation and expansion in railways.

Later, the Committee appointed a Sub-Committee under the Convenership of Ramesh Lal, MNA with Waseem Qadir, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui and Zulfiqar Ali, MNAs as its Members. The Sub-Committee will look into the issues of encroachments/lease of the Railways land. The Sub-Committee will submit its report to the Standing Committee within 30 days.

The meeting was attended by Waseem Qadir, Sadiq Ali Memon, Rafiq Ahmed Jamali, Ramesh Lal, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, Mohammad Ilyas Choudhary, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Zulfiqar Ali and Shafqat Abbas, MNAs. The senior officers from Ministry of Railways and Pakistan Railways were also present in the meeting.