ISLAMABAD, Sept 22: About 556 government houses in the country are under illegal occupation as there is no specific law to get them vacated, the National Assembly was told on Monday.

Replying to a written question regarding illegal occupation of government houses, the parliamentary secretary to the ministry of housing and works said the Estate Office was helpless and could not take action against illegal occupants as there was no law in this regard.

He said the law ministry had been consulted to enact laws empowering the Estate Office to get official residences vacated and take action against illegal occupants.

In a separate question about allotment of a government house by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to an official of National Bank of Pakistan, the parliamentary secretary said the prime minister had the power to allot official accommodation to any government servant under clause 59-A of the Housing Act.

Meanwhile, the Estate Office (EO) has sent a summary to Prime Minister Secretariat requesting Mr Jamali to get its 350 houses, illegally occupied by Islamabad police personnel, vacated, a source in the housing ministry told Dawn.

The source said the EO had given a deadline of October 31 to the inspector general of police (IGP) Islamabad, to get these houses vacated, but the police personnel were still not ready to vacate them.

They have obtained stay orders from the court to avoid any action against them by the EO.

The source said some 100 flats, in G-9 sector alone, were illegally occupied by the police officials and the district administration Islamabad.

A large number of government houses, that are in illegal occupation, have reportedly been sublet to other people.

“Although the EO has earned bad repute in the past, it is a fact that a number of its officials, who have been serving for the last 20 years, have no government house,” an Estate Office official said.

He said in compliance with the government’s directives, the EO was struggling hard to eliminate malpractices in the department and make allotments on merit.

He said besides political leaders, officials of the district administration, Islamabad, local police and even retired officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had also acquired government houses.