Directing the housing ministry to carry out a survey to determine whether there has been any double allotment to any person, public accounts committee has recommended to cancel unauthorised/unjustified double allotment of plots to ineligible persons out of specified quota.
Available copy of a report of a sub-committee constituted by the public accounts committee to examine the unauthorised/unjustified double allotment of plots to ineligible persons out of the specified quota made recommendations of the committee. The committee has recommended cancelling all double allotments. “And, for this, record of housing colonies established with the help of the government be scrutinized and double allotments identified and canceled”, report said.
According to sub-committee’s recommendations, allotment of plots to employees of ministry of housing & works and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) was made against the prescribed allotment criteria/policy in brochure of Phase-IV. Similarly, allotment made to members of executive committee stated to have been canceled earlier on the directives of the Prime Minister. “Therefore, plots allotted to the employees of ministry of housing and works and ICT needs to be cancelled on the same analogy. Also separate allocation of quota for administrative ministry/department within federal government employees is against the spirit of merit,” report said.
The sub-committee report stated that original policy for Phase-IV (Para 4.2 of brochure) provided five per cent quota for professionals, which do not include ICT Administration, employees of ministry of housing and works and Islamabad Police. However, subsequently, additional plots were allocated for persons not covered in the original policy under professional quota.
The sub-committee has further recommended that ministry may carry out a survey to ascertain whether any government servant has received more than one plot in different government/autonomous body/housing schemes. If this has happened, it is in violation of government policy and it is liable to be canceled. Or, if disposed of, then the government servants should be liable to pay the cost of double allotted plot.
Directing the housing ministry to carry out a survey with the help of other concerning ministries/departments and representative bodies of different eligible quotas to determine whether there has been any double allotment to any person, the sub-committee said the criteria of allotment of plots should be based purely on seniority basis and plots be given only to senior most employees of the federal government. It was expressed that in view of welfare activity, age and seniority be given due importance. The report said that the executives could not violate the policy. It said that the similar rule of one plot per person needs to be applied to other eligible quotas such as journalists and lawyers.
The sub-committee has noted that due to having a laid down policy, some federal government employees have managed to get more than one plot at subsidized rates from various entities which should be strictly banned. The sub-committee suggested that to avoid double allotment, the record of the executing agencies/controlling offices be computerized forthwith. It further stated that crystal clear system may be devised so that only one plot may be given to eligible and senior employees.
The sub-committee observed that change of plots from under developed sectors to developed security may also be banned strictly. It was noted that journalist quota has been decreased from two per cent to one per cent. The ministry of information and broadcasting was asked why this had been done.
Earlier, the Public Accounts Committee constituted a sub-committee under the convener ship of MNA Shafqat Mahmood to examine the unauthorised/unjustified allotment of plots to ineligible persons out of specified quota.
Audit pointed out that the Islamabad estate wing federal government employees housing foundation (FGEHF) allotted residential plots in Phase-IV to the officers of ministry of housing and works under specified quota without provision in brochure. Audit further observed that certain officers/officials of Ministry of Housing & Works and Police Department were also included in the category of professional quota contrary to the provisions and criteria provided in the brochure. In this way, eligible/entitled persons of the waiting list were deprived from the allotment of plots. This resulted into unauthorized/unjustified allotment of plots valuing Rs389 million.
The FGEHF is of the stand that the federal government employees housing foundation is a public limited company working on “no profit no loss basis”. The mandate of the FGH housing foundation as enshrined in the memorandum and article of association is the initiate sponsor/launch and implement housings schemes for federal government employees and other specified groups of people, as decided by the foundation from time to time.
The executive committee/board of directors is the governing body of the FGH housing foundation, which takes all policy decisions with respect to the housing schemes of the foundation. The Executive Committee in its 109th meeting approved two per cent quota for employees of ministry of housing and works and attached departments in all future schemes of the housing foundation.
The quota for ICT employees of district collector officer was allocated on the judgment of honourable Lahore high court Rawlpindi bench. The court directed housing foundation to allocate a reasonable quota for each category of employees of those departments who were not civil servants but discharging duties in connection with the affairs of the federation. The foundation in its housing schemes Phase-IV introduced a five per cent constitutional/professional quota for employees of such bodies inclusive of quota for ICT district collector officer. Allotments to police officers were made under professional quota on the recommendation of ICT Administration.
The policy for allotment of plots and quota allocation has recently been reviewed in the light of abolition of discretionary quota act, 2013, as per direction of prime minister’s office and duly approved by the Executive Committee of the Housing Foundation.
The plots are allotted by the FGEHF on seniority basis except Bhara Kahu scheme which was floated on first come first serve basis. The quota for allotment of plots to journalists and lawyers is observed on the basis of name given by the ministry of information, broadcasting and national heritage and bar councils.
FGEHF was formed vide securities and exchange commission of Pakistan order no CO.42/19/89 dated 18-10-1989, “to initiate, launch, sponsor and implement housing schemes for federal government employees on membership basis in all the major cities of Pakistan to eradicate shelter-less in federal government employees and to make and assist as far as possible each of them to have a house at the time of retirement earlier and intends to apply its income in promoting its objective and to prohibit the payment of any dividend or profit to its members”.
