Senate Committee urges increased funding for Parliament Lodges & swift completion of new suites amid budget shortfall

ISLAMABAD, August 07 (SABAH): Deputy Chairman Senate, Senator Syedaal Khan, chaired the meeting of the Senate House Committee held on Wednesday at Parliament House.

The Committee was briefed on the CDA’s allocated budget for the Parliament Lodges. The Chairman of the CDA informed that the annual budget for the Parliament Lodges for the year 2024-25 is around Rs. 369.261 million; however, the required amount for the year is approximately Rs. 850 million. Additionally,the Committee discussed the current status of the 104 new suites of Parliament Lodges. Officials explained that the project was initiated in 2011, had an estimated cost of around Rs. 2.9 billion. Construction work has been halted since 2016 due to litigation with the contractor. As of now, the cost of the project stands around Rs. 8.62 billion. However, the CDA has submitted PC-I to the Planning Commission to secure budgetary allocation for the completion of Phase I, which includes 54 suites. The Secretary for the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives informed that a meeting of the Planning Committee is scheduled for this week to review the PC-I of the new block. The Committee recommended the Planning Ministry to ensure the required budgetary allocation for the completion of Phase I of the new block.

While discussing the vacation of family suites occupied by former members, Deputy Chairman Senate Senator Syedaal Khan asserted that members are legally bound to vacate the accommodation after the expiration of their term. He recommended that illegally occupied accommodations be vacated as soon as possible. He also recommended that renovation work of the newly allocated suites be conducted based on necessity.

The meeting was attended by Senator Attaur Rehman, Senator Khalida Ateeb, Senator Hidayatullah Khan, Senator Bilal Ahmad Khan, Senator Nasir Mehmood, Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwardhy Taimur, Special Secretary for Ministry of Interior, Secretary for Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives Awais Manzur Sumra, Chairman CDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa and other senior officials of relevant departments were also in attendance.