September 13, 2005	Tuesday	Sha’aban 8, 1426

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LAHORE, Sept 12: The railways administration on Monday said in a press release the stance of State Minister Ishaq Khan Khakwani on the PR Board executive committee was not based on facts.

The release said the Railway Board and its executive committee had proper legal authority as notified vide presidential orders published in the Gazette of Pakistan “published by authority, Islamabad, Saturday, April 22, 2000.”

The release further said: “All the decisions taken by the executive committee in the past have been considered and ratified by the railway board. The decisions taken in the meetings held since will be placed before the railway board in its next meeting to be held shortly.

“As such there is no irregularity in seeking the collective advice of the executive committee of the railway board/railway administration,” the release concluded.

Mr Khakwani told Dawn the working of the executive committee and the government had been in contradiction to each other.

The committee was constituted in 2000 when Javed Ashraf Qazi, the then minister, was trying to re-organize the railways in his own manner.

“The concept of executive committee has never been institutionalized in government working. Executive committees are there to run private organizations like clubs and other private companies.

“The basic difference is that in government working, officials or decision makers give their opinion in writing on the file which forms the basis of holding anyone responsible for a right or wrong decision.

“Various tiers of the government have different responsibilities and they can be held accountable at any time because public funds are involved in decision-making. When a file moves, every body records his comments — for or against — on it,” he said.

On the contrary, the minister said, only decisions were being recorded without stating the opinion of the officials who constitute the executive committee.

“It is the prerogative of an individual official, his right to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ which is being denied.

“Therefore, for a wrong decision the entire committee is held accountable. No individual can be held accountable or absolved of any wrong doing. This is the biggest lacuna in the whole system. In this kind of meetings, the weight is tilted in favour of the chairman.

“There is not a single decision of the committee meeting taken on the basis of the officers opinion in writing,” said Mr Khakwani, who added that no meeting of the PR Board had been convened for the last one year to consider or ratify any decision of the committee.

“This is defiance of the whole spirit of the ordinance,” said the minister.

The PR board’s executive committee was constituted under the Transfer of Railways (Amendment) Ordinance 2000, by substituting Article III of Presidential Order No 33 of 1962.

Article six of the amended ordinance says: “There shall be an executive committee consisting of secretary of ministry of railways who shall be its chairman and general manager railways operations, general manager manufacturing and services and member finance as its members for taking day-to-day decisions to be approved later on by the railway board.”

Meanwhile, the executive committee of the Pakistan Railways Board discussed 12 items during a meeting on Monday.

Sources told Dawn the meeting was presided over by Railways Board chairman Shakil Durrani at the PR headquarters in Lahore.

The items on the agenda included train stoppages, proposals regarding insurance of passengers, the commercial exploitation of railways real estate and the fate of railways’ schools management which had recently been handed over back to the organization.

Working papers on transfer of the management of the Mayo Gardens, commercial management and passenger facilities at major railway stations, starting with Hyderabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar to the Pakistan Railway Advisory and Consultancy Services were also taken up.

Sources said modalities of handing over more freight and one prestigious passenger train to the PRACS also came under discussion.

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