LAHORE - Retired employees of the Punjab government have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the National Accountability Bureau to look into the affairs of the Punjab Government Servants Housing Foundation which, they allege, has failed to meet the targets it had been set up for and there is little hope that it will ever be able to deliver.
As manifest from its very nomenclature, the primary objective of the foundation was to provide houses to the government servants retiring after completing their tenure. The decision was appreciable as retirement is the time when most of the servants need a shelter for themselves and their families. The government regularly deducts certain amount from the salaries of such employees who are entitled to the facility.
However, only 1,341 employees who served out their tenures in Lahore were allotted houses in Mohlanwal scheme. Later for reasons best known to the relevant quarters it was decided that such employees would be given plots, not houses.
According to information gleaned from official quarters, in Lahore 1,154 plots and in Rawalpindi 9,500 were allotted through draw.
There is a plan to construct under public-private partnership apartments in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Sahiwal. But it is unclear how long will the scheme take to come on ground.
Khalid Mehmud Hashmi, a professor who retired after completing service at the MAO College, said the retirees have no idea if and when they would be able to get houses or plots in their lifetime.
He says employees belonging to Lahore have been made part of the lot in other districts, which is unfair by all standards.
According to him, property dealers are exploiting the situation. They are advising the dejected employees to sell their plots in advance to avoid the torturous wait for an indefinite period. Hashmi had retired on April 6, 2017 but he is not sure when he would get the plot he is entitled to.
His wife, Qaria Rubina, died on job on December24, 2017 as associate professor at Govt Islamia Post Graduate College, Cooper Road. But so far her heirs are unaware whether they would get the house or plot the renowned educationist was entitled to.