Government faces shortfall of 275,000 houses

Cabinet placed a ban on construction of new residences two decades ago

ISLAMABAD: With the ban on construction of new official residences in place, the government now faces a shortage of 275,000 houses for its employees across the country with the deficit widening with each passing year.

The cabinet banned further construction of government housing for employees two decades ago in March 1995.

Arshad Ali is one such grade-19 official working in the Pak Secretariat waiting for his turn to take possession of an official residence since his posting to the secretariat as a section officer years ago.



Similarly, over 28,000 government employees are waiting for their turn in the federal capital alone, according to the official general waiting list of Ministry of Housing and Works.

“There are officials who are in the waiting list for the past 10-15 years,” said one of the officials privy to the matter.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry for Housing and Works on the basis of data collected from the 1998 census, the annual demand of houses for government employees is 0.57 million housing units whereas only 0.30 million government residences are available.

Interestingly, while the shortage of houses is ever-increasing in Quetta, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and other major cities the allocation of funds is shrinking every fiscal year.

The shortage of official residences has led to misuse and illegal occupation which is another problem the government has yet resolve.

According to the ministry’s data, about 500 residences for grade 20 and above officers are occupied by those who have retired and even completed the six-month complimentary period.  The officials include senior police officers, secretaries and other high-ups from autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies.



Similarly, over 1,000 cases have been stayed by the courts.

The ministry is also accused of nepotism. “This has made our problem worse,” another senior official, who was not allowed to comment, said.

Additionally, about half of the officers on the waiting list in the capital have rented out houses for themselves, which has led to another form of corruption.

Most of the eligible employees who are granted house-rent allowances have sublet their rented houses.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2016.