ISLAMABAD: Railways Minister Azam Khan Swati on Monday said that Pakistan Railways (PR) would overcome heavy losses in next six to nine months.

Addressing a news conference, the minister claimed that the railways had already become a for-profit institution for the first time in the past 50 years.

He expressed the hope that the freight service would soon increase from the existing four per cent to 10pc. The purchase of space, bidding and other matters for the construction of terminals at different places were also in the process, he added.

Mr Swati lamented that Pakistan Railways got zero income from its most valuable land during the past 70 years. Railway officers, police and some other people were involved in illegal occupation of PR land, he regretted.

Says trains will be run under public-private partnership

The minister said that the Royal Palm Club was occupied by the mafia while the club turned a loss into a profit after the Supreme Court relinquished its possession. The whole process was being run on the orders of the apex court and if someone would say anything about it on YouTube he/she will be brought to justice, he warned.

How happy the people will be when PR will go into profit from the deficit, he said.

Mr Swati said 132,000 people were paid pension in railways. The prime minister and the finance minister had set aside a separate account for pensions, he added.

He said the trains would be run under the public-private partnership as the government did not have the capacity to run the railways. “How can we run loss-making trains? All bogies will be auctioned under this project,” he said.

The minister said that recommendations had been made to the prime minister regarding 150 colonies for employees where they would get the best education and housing facilities.

“The PR land would be auctioned for which a bidding system had been developed in accordance with the international standards. The investor will mark the railway land and submit bids,” he added.

Mr Swati said that a system had been in place under which any officer who committed corruption would be caught.

He said the PR lands worth billions of rupees had been retrieved in Karachi and Hyderabad with the help of Rangers because the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf did not have a government in Sindh.

The minister said that electricity thefts worth Rs2.5 billion had been controlled through strict monitoring.

He said the PR employees would not be made permanent as he was not doing politics.

Talking about the deplorable condition of the PR hospitals and schools, the minister said he was privatising all the railway hospitals.

He said the PR employees were involved in many issues and 2,500 cases had been registered against such employees.

He said 11 railway petrol pumps had been seized by the mafia.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2021