ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Railways has born a loss of Rs 2.2 billion due to non-completion of its project of rehabilitation, upgradation and conversion of 400 coaches in time, audit authorities have pointed out.
Available documents with The Nation reveal that as per PC-1 of the project of rehabilitation, upgradation and conversion of the 400 coaches, the year-wise schedule of outrun of coaches was 40, 176 and 184 coaches for the years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively.
The audit of accounts of the Managing Director, Carriage Factory Islamabad, revealed that the management failed to achieve the scheduled outturn of coaches due to which these coaches were not put into operation in time to generate revenue.
Progress of the project was not as per schedule and only 300 coaches were turned out up to June, 2014. It indicates that earnings were lost in each year since 2006-07. Thus poor performance of management caused a loss of potential earnings of Rs 2,333 million.
The matter was reported to the management in October, 2014. It was replied that the outrun was not as per schedule due to the insufficient funds allocation and cash release during the financial crunch in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Another factor which delayed the outturn was the loadshedding of Sui gas and electricity. Out of 400, only 308 coaches had turned out up to November, 2014.
The reply was not satisfactory as the delay of five years in turning out of schedule coaches was not justified in any case.
Audit General of Pakistan emphasized in its report that responsibility should be fixed for not achieving the targets. All-out efforts are required to complete the remaining portion of the project at the earliest.