Rawalpindi Medical College: City admin approaches NAB for hostel’s vacation

City administration approaches accountability bureau to get it to return building it is illegally occupying.

RAWALPINDI: The city administration approached the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a bid to get it to return a medical college’s female hostel building it has been occupying for the past 11 years.

Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed wrote a letter to NAB’s Bureau Chairperson Justice (R) Deedar Hussain Shah saying that the female students of Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) were facing housing problems because one of the college’s hostels was under the possession of NAB.

He asked Hussain for early vacation of the hostel.

Saeed said, “In my letter I asked NAB chairperson to shift NAB Police Station, NAB offices and four accountability courts to some other place [to make space for the girls].” He added that the city administration has already managed to convince NAB to vacate a piece of land for a cardiac centre.

A NAB spokesperson, when approached, refused to comment on the letter. Back in October, a NAB official had said that they were considering “different options but will not vacate the building unless provided with an alternative.”

He had also confirmed that NAB was not paying any rent to RMC for the building.

NAB occupied this building back in 1999 and refuses to budge. At the time of the military coup the building was vacant so the bureau established its offices (including four Accountability Courts) in this hostel building, near Pakistan Air Force Chaklala Base, Rawalpindi.

The building was and officially remains the territory of RMC. Mubashir Malik, principal of RMC at the time refused to give NAB permission to occupy the building. He maintained that the building was to be used as a girls’ hostel. Despite his objections NAB established offices in the premises, where they remain today.

“We want our hostel back,” a group of female subtends of medical college told The Express Tribune. They added that they have been staging protests from time to against the “illegal” occupation of their hostel.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2011.