February 16, 2006	Thursday	Muharram 17, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 15: People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar on Wednesday questioned the policy of giving costly plots to army officers during their service and called for reviewing the criteria for allotment of plots by the federal government.

Speaking on a motion on “criteria laid down for allotment of plots by the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation”, Senator Babar said the whole policy of plot allotment needed to be reviewed.

Mr Babar said in a meeting of the Senate defence committee on February 4, the members were informed that a military officer was given a plot on completion of 15-year service, a second plot was given to him after 25 years of service, a third one after 28 years while a fourth plot after 33 years of service. On the other hand, he regretted, when political governments allotted plots to deserving persons they were hauled up before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“Keep your hands on heart, close your eyes and ask yourself the question whether it is right and proper that military officers should get four plots at the end of 33 years of service in prized localities of defence housing authorities and the civilians are hauled up before NAB for allotting plots even to deserving individuals,” he asked the treasury benches and urged a thorough review of plot allotments policy for all.

Earlier, Federal Minister of Housing and Works Syed Safwanullah formally tendered an apology on the floor of the house to Senator Farhatullah Babar for wrongly informing the Senate earlier that he had been allotted a plot in Islamabad under the directives of the prime minister.

The apology was tendered by the minister after the chairman of the procedures and privileges committee, Senator Prof Saeed Siddiqui laid before the house the reports of the committee that had considered nine privilege motions earlier referred to it by the house.

The motion had arisen out of information placed before the Senate on November 15 in reply to a question according to which Senator Babar was also listed as one of the 480 persons who had been given plots in Islamabad under the special quota of prime minister in a special scheme.