Railway allotments

It may come as a surprise to many, especially those who live in katchi abadis, that they are victims of fraud when it comes to railway land allocated to those living in such settlements. It appears that no railways land could be transferred to anyone without a no objection certificate (NOC) under the law. Ownership rights given by the previous governments to the dwellers of shanties on railways land were merely announcements for political gains, claims Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq. Pakistan Railways is a federal government entity and no provincial government has the authority to give away any of its assets. The only assuring aspect in all this is that dwellers on these land will not be evicted and some mechanism is being worked out to give relief to these dwellers. Sort of arrangement needs to be worked out but at the same time the Railways has to be more vigilant about its land holdings. Some sort of system has to be in place to ensure that Railways land is not misused.

It comes as no surprise that Pakistan Railways owns sizeable tracts of land across the country but a portion of this has been encroached on over the years. Successive governments have been unsuccessful in vacating these lands. Much of this has to do with political pressure and compulsions. This situation seems to be changing. The current minister seems serious about reclaiming what is rightly the property of Railways. It is important for the railways administration to take this issue up on a priority basis. At the same time it should also be mindful of how it intends to lease out this land. Not all of this land should be leased out on a commercial basis. Some of this land should be turned into recreational areas as some such properties are located within city limits. Finally, the railways should be mindful of how others are misdirecting people by promising them allocation of railway land without proper legal formalities. More important for the Railways is that it should continue to pursue recovery of its properties regardless of who is the minister in charge. A state entity should not be at the mercy of corrupt lobbies.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2018.

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