ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The ad-hoc Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was informed on Thursday that the Pakistan Railways had come out of the phase of non viability by curtailing its annual losses to Rs1.82 billion.

However, the committee expressed its dismay over the carry forward losses of Rs27.918 billion along with overdraft worth Rs19.526 billion, as on June 30, 2000 first of which was suggested to be turned into equity and latter to be absorbed by the government in a bid to make Pakistan Railways a running entity.

The committee, which met with H. U. Baig in the chair, stressed the need for making sure that every development project is undertaken after a well-thought-out planning so that it was not abandoned midway after spending huge amounts of money.

Earlier, it was informed that the process of privatisation of Pakistan Railways initiated under the World Bank pressure was halted by the government finding it non feasible and against the national interest. The government has decided now to go for corporatisation and involving private sector in running it on commercial lines, the PAC was told.

Briefing the committee, the secretary told the PAC that the railways had attained a net savings of Rs365 million by controlling pilferage of electricity, eliminating ghost pensioners, stopping illegal overtime and reducing the number of free passes to the employees.

The organisation had also restructured and in right-sizing process settled at 95,565 sanctioned staff from earlier 133,000, the committee was informed. “A vigilance directorate had been set up to check corruption and other irregularities. The directorate will detect as many as 3,820 cases involving Rs850 million so far.”

As many as 100 officers have either been dismissed or sent on compulsory retirement to discourage corruption and inefficiency with 4075 police personnel having been removed from service on account of malpractice and corruption. It was further informed that the scrap auctions etc were controlled by mafia which was undone and as a result an amount of Rs744 million was earned through transparent transactions during the years 2000-2002. The committee came to know that the practice of awarding contracts for railway dining cars, station stalls and restaurants on the basis of political favouritism had been discontinued resulting in generation of extra revenue of Rs140.805 million in one year period.

Moreover, reservation/ticketing system is being computerised at Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi in the first phase, whereas overall punctuality of more than 70 per cent had been attained. The freight division alone generated Rs4.746 billion during the financial year 2001-2002 alone as against Rs171 million having been earned in the same period last year. The PAC was apprised that out of 24,000 acres of railway land more than 6,000 acres had been encroached upon mostly by mafia/influential people, by not only building small dwellings but also shopping plazas and multi story buildings/flats.

The new railway management had been able to secure the occupation of 100 acres of total railway land and efforts were continuing to get the remaining illegally occupied land reclaimed and encroachments from there removed.

Giving his remarks, the senior deputy auditor general, Chaudhry Ilyas, said the fashion of every coming government winding up the projects initiated by the previous ones had cost the exchequer very dearly and this practice ought to be stopped.

He termed as bad decision that process of privatization that was set in motion by the previous government which had to be abandoned after heavy expenses on feasibility etc.