ISLAMABAD - Legislators on Wednesday were shocked to know that various departments and sovereign bodies attached to the Ministry of Hosing and WORKS were working without key positions lying vacant there.
Questioning the performance of the ministry and departments attached to it, National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works Wednesday expressed apprehension over the vacant positions in the ministry and its attached sovereign bodies. The committee directed the ministry to approach the concerned for filling the vacant posts of Federal Secretary, Managing Director PHA Foundation and Director General of Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) without further delay.
Chairman of the Committee Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari presided over the meeting here at the Parliament House. Minister of State for Housing and Works Usman Ibrahim was also present in the meeting.
The meeting was also attended by members of the committee, MNAs including Rajab Ali Khan Baloch, Sahibzada Faiz-ul-Hassan, Nawabzada Mazhar Ali, Tahira Aurangzeb, Khalida Mansoor, Nigat Parveen Mir, Faqir Sher Muhammad Bilalani, Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Tahir Asif and Qahar Khan Wadan. The committee also directed DG Pak PWD to bring complete details of all the embezzlement cases with their latest status; and also along with litigation cases pending in the courts of law.
The committee observed that the condition of all the federal lodges in the country, being maintained by Pak.PWD is shockingly bad despite the fact that they their maintenance funds every financial year. The committee asked the minister of State to intervene in the matter personally for their graceful preservation.
The committee also asked the minister to take immediate steps for the release of salaries of the employees of Pak.PWD, which have been stopped for the last five months. Joint Secretary ministry of Housing and Works briefed the committee on the working and performance of ministry and its attached departments. He said that new National Housing Policy 2013 is being prepared by National Housing Authority (NHA) to provide low cost houses to the people under directive of Prime Minister.