29 October 2004	Friday	14 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haider on Wednesday informed the Senate that a proposal for opening the rail link between Pakistan and India via Khokhrapar had been discussed.

In his written reply to a query raised by Senator Ilyas Bilour during the question hour, he said that for this purpose, conversion of the Mirpurkhas-Khokharapar section from meter gauge to broad gauge had been proposed.

The minister said PC-1 amounting to Rs2.10 billion, with Rs503 million FEC, was under also under consideration. However, he added, execution of the work was subject to approval of the project by the competent forum and allocation of the necessary funds.

Responding to a question raised by Senator Dr Muhammad Ismail Buledi, he said that 6,356 people had been appointed in the Pakistan Railways since 2002.

He further said recruitment for BS-1 and BS-2 was made on a local basis while in the recruitment of BS-3 to BS-16, the provincial quota was strictly observed, as provided in the Constitution.

However, in case of Balochistan, 269 people had been recruited, which, the minister said, was 7.4 per cent over and above the prescribed quota of the province.

The minister also informed the Senate that the prescribed procedure for the recruitment of staff in the Pakistan Railways had been fully observed with regard to the quota for the recruitment provided in the Constitution.-APP