Recommendations: Auqaf department to lease lands on long-term basis

According to existing laws, there is a prohibition to give govt-owned land to external entities for extended periods

LAHORE: The Punjab government is planning to give away 363-acres of land belonging to the Auqaf department on a long-term lease to external entities in violation of the existing law.

In this regard, a committee has been formed which will scrutinise the spots to be given on lease and prepare recommendations for new laws.

The department of Auqaf has identified lands at 129 places all over the province where residential schemes, petrol pumps, commercial plazas, marriage halls, schools, fish farms, factories and warehouses can be constructed.

The recommended spots include lands linked with the Badshahi Masjid, important places such as Hall Road and Multan Road and lands associated with shrines such as Dars Baray Mian, Darbar Madho Lal Hussain, Darbar Mian Mir, Darbar Baba Bulhay Shah and Darbar Abdul Khaliq and Khanqah Jamal.



The maximum number of spots has been identified in Lahore where a total of 151-acres of land, comprising 30 spots, will be given on commercial lease.

Since it is against the existing law of the Auqaf department to give government-owned land on a long-term lease, many of the department’s employees and senior bureaucrats of the province have shown reservations against the decision.

According to them, there needs to be an amendment in the law before any such decisions can be made. They also added that owing to possible political interference in the matter, financial scandals or cases related to corruption being investigated by the National Account Bureau (NAB) may also surface.

Details show that Provincial Minister Auqaf Syed Saeedul Hassan recommended the Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar that the department owns lands that can help the government generate revenue if they are given on lease.

Per the recommendation, the CM Punjab constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Law Minister Raja Basharat. Other members in the committee include minister Auqaf, senior members from the Punjab board of revenue, department of Auqaf, department of housing, and secretaries of the department of finance. According to the current laws, a house or shop belonging to the department can be given on lease for three years while land which can be cultivated can be given on lease for a year. On the other hand, infertile land can be given on lease for seven years.

On being contacted, Syed Saeedul Hassan informed The Express Tribune that he has presented the recommendation to the prime minister of Pakistan and the chief minister according to which the land of Auqaf be given on lease not only for commercial and residential purposes but also for livestock business.

“The current laws do not allow authorities to give government-owned land on lease on a long-term basis, hence new laws will be made so that transparency is ensured,” he said, adding that political interference will not be allowed in the process of leasing.

“The officers of the Auqaf department and provincial bureaucracy are worried for no any reason as the entire law-making and rules and regulations will be properly established before starting the process,” he said.

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Syed Saeed-ul-Hassan was the minister of Auqaf back in 2004 and 2008. At the time, the CM had given special exemption on a summary that approved the handover of a few properties of the Auqaf on lease for 30 years.

As per the current recommendations, the estimated value of the lands that have been recommended to be given on lease is Rs50 billion and they cannot be given on lease without amending the laws.

The recommendations of the Auqaf department stated that 12 and 13-marla lands linked with the Badshahi Masjid can be given on lease for construction. Two plots of 12 and 13-canal linked with the Jamia Masjid Tajdar at Liaquat Chowk Sabza Zar can also be given on lease for construction. One canal and nine-Marla lands at Hall Road can be given for commercial plaza, whereas lands linked with Darbar Madho Lal Hussain, Mian Mir and Shah Gohar Pir Darbar can be given on lease for residential purposes.

Similarly, the 45-canal land linked with Takiya Mastan Shah can be given on lease for a commercial building, the lands of more than 67 canals can be given on lease for commercial purposes in Dars Baray Mian and the 39-canal land in Takiya Haider Shah in Dera Chal near DHA can be given on commercial lease.

Another 25-canal land linked with Haq Nawaz Trust can be given for residential purposes, while a 43-canal land can be given for commercial use.

Sources also revealed that the 16-canal land linked with the Shah Noor Atari Shrine at Ferozepur Road has been recommended for the construction of a marriage hall, whereas the four-canal land in Takiya Elahi Shah near the Chung Police Training School has been recommended for the construction of a petrol pump. The 71-canal land linked with Darbar Baba Bhulay Shah and the 595-canal land in Darbar Hazrat Abdul Khaliq in Kasoor may be given on lease for commercial purposes. The 142-canal land of Eid Gah of Auqaf Department near the railway station in Farooqabad can be given for factories and warehouses.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2019.