Railway schools handed over to private firm, NA told
By Arshad Sharif
ISLAMABAD, June 23: Pakistan Railways has handed over its schools under a "contract" to a profitable private limited company with major financial stakes of the next of kin of the foreign minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.
The information provided to the National Assembly here on Wednesday also showed the salaries of the teachers of the schools run by a commercial profitable organization were being paid through the taxpayers money under a "contract."
According to details, the information about payment of public money to a private profitable organization was revealed to the National Assembly when MNA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq asked the railways minister to inform the House if it was true that railway schools had been handed over to the Beaconhouse school systems under a contract.
In a written response, the minister for railways, Ghous Bux Khan Mehr, conceded before the National Assembly that "Railway schools have been handed over to Beaconhouse schools system i.e Educational Services Private Limited under a contract."
In a related question, MNA Ayaz Sadiq asked the minister if it was a fact that the salaries of the teachers of the said schools were being paid by the Railways in violation of the contract.
Accepting the contention of MNA Ayaz Sadiq, the minister said, "Salaries of teachers of the said schools are paid by the Railways but the same expenditure is claimed from Educational Services as re-imbursement."
The minister did not explain the logic of first giving public money to a private organization and then reclaiming it as reimbursement. Moreover, he did not clarify if it was in violation of the contract or not as asked by MNA Ayaz.
The House was also not informed if any interest was being charged by the private organization on public money till the time it remained in its accounts and if the principal amount with interest was reimbursed to the Railways or only the amount on salaries.
Other information which went missing in the answer related to the amount of interest charged by the private organization when it maintained public funds in the form of teachers salaries in its accounts.
