March 23, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 22: The Senate Standing Committee on Saturday took serious notice of out-of-turn allotment of official accommodation to government employees and has sought the details from Housing and Works Ministry.

The committee was informed that 2745 allotments were made since 2005 while 322 allotments were made during the incumbent caretaker government to the employees of ministries, divisions and other government departments.

The committee also directed the authorities to give the reasons and basis for the allotments and also the number of government accommodations allotted according to general waiting list.

The committee also discussed that the names, designation and ministry/departments of the government employees to whom allotments were made on out-of-turn basis, should be scrutinised in the next meeting.

The issue of out-of-turn allotments of government accommodation was raised in Senate by Senator Liaqat Ali Bangulzai in which he had asked for the details from the minister concerned.

The committee’s meeting, held at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Dr Mohammed Ali Brohi, also proposed to bring the Capital Development Authority under the administrative control of Housing and Works Ministry rather than under Cabinet Division.

Caretaker Minister for Housing and Works Nisar Mohammed Khan on the occasion admitted that housing problem in the capital was going from bad to worse and stressed the need for launching joint ventures on public-private partnership basis.

He said the ministry had been assigned the task of launching a Housing Scheme on ownership basis for the federally constituted occupational groups besides the construction of 37,000 apartments on ownership basis to the low-paid federal government employees.

The meeting was also attended by Senators Hafiz Abdul Malik Qadri, Shuja-ul-Mulk, Bibi Yasmeen Shah, Dr Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, Sardar Mohammed Jamal Khan Leghari, Mohabat Khan Marri, Sardar Mehmud Khan, Maulana Rahat Hussain, Farooq Hamid Naek, Syed Mohammed Hussain and Mohammed Saleh Shah.