The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the ministry of railways on Friday agreed to expand cooperation for early disposal of corruption cases of the Pakistan Railways being investigated by the Bureau.
Under the tenure of former railways ministers Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and General (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi, various cases of alleged corruption had surfaced under which low quality locomotives were purchased from China and the railways properties were handed over to private sector companies on “throw-away prices”.
The understanding was agreed upon during a meeting between Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique and NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry held here at the NAB headquarters. During the meeting, the chairman and the railways minister agreed to work in close collaboration for early disposal of the cases of the Pakistan Railways being investigated by the Bureau.
The minister was accompanied by the secretary and other senior officers of Pakistan Railways. Senior officers of the NAB were also present in the meeting to assist the chairman on different corruption cases.
The NAB chairman said the NAB would play a proactive role to strengthen regulators and support individual organisations in their efforts to eradicate corruption from the country. The chairman asked the railways authorities to detail focal persons for different corruption cases of Pakistan Railways to facilitate the NAB for timely provision of relevant record. He directed senior officers of the Bureau to actively conclude all the cases to their logical end and focus be given to recovery of the losses to the national exchequer along with action against the accused persons.
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique assured that he would continue help the NAB in the war against corruption as he reaffirmed his commitment to eradicate this menace from the Pak Railways.
