Getting allotment letters of the government accommodations under Pakistan Accommodation Allocation Rules 1993 and 2002 has become a nightmare for several low rank government officials working in the capital city, as the estate office is not ready to give them possession of the flats in which they are residing for the last many years. The discriminatory attitude and mismanagement by the estate office in providing government accommodation is considered as the main reason behind all the issue. However, to raise their voice against such discrimination and to get possession of their flats in sector G/6 some 23 employees of various departments including Capital Development Authority (CDA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and several others moved into litigation.
Citing Secretary Ministry of Housing and Works, Estate Officer of Estate Office and others as respondents, the petitioners through their counsel on Tuesday informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that all of them were permanent government employees and entitled to get occupation and allotment of the government accommodation from the federal pool maintained by the estate office.
With the promise of issuance of allotment letters, all of the said employees were allowed to live in the under construction flats in sector G/6 after which the said employees shifted their families to the capital city from far off areas after the Lal Masjid operation, in view of the exigencies of services.
The employees said that as the estate office has promised to issue allotment letters, so all of them will have to spend huge money on the renovation of the said flats, which are even without doors and shutters and are being misused by criminals and narcotics addicts.
“It is feared that the estate office has not issued us allotment letters just to vacate the flats from us despite the reason that we have a right on these flats now,” said Nazir Ahmad a security guard.
Apparently, the fear of dispossession of their flats among many of the government employees spread after coming to know that the estate office has expedited its efforts to get vacated government flats which are in illegal possession for the last many years.
According to the estate official, around 457 government houses in the city are said to be in illegal occupation. He said that the problems of estate office has compounded as a large number of government officers are on the waiting list to get government accommodation in the federal capital.
However, the employees prayed before the court to restrain the estate office from dispossessing them and their families from their residences while the court had also directed the estate office to decide the fate of their case according to the law on a priority basis.
