ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: Undeterred by widespread complaints about the misuse of transport monetisation policy, the Planning Commission formally presented on Tuesday an ambitious plan for monetisation of housing facility for federal government employees which, it claimed, would initially cost about Rs170 billion but generate over Rs10 trillion of income for the government in 10 years.

Informed sources said the commission’s deputy chairman informed a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh that the facility would cost Rs170 billion even if the salary of federal officers and employees in the federal capital was increased by more than 100 per cent, but this would free up thousands of acres of prime land whose only 30 per cent use could generate Rs10 trillion of new investment and revenue in 10 years.

The existing cost of housing facility to federal government employees was estimated at Rs140 billion even though only eight per cent employees and officers enjoyed government residences while other less influential employees were paid house rent allowance or hiring facility.

“This is almost 50 per cent of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP)”, said an official.

The meeting was informed that besides salary, official houses in the federal capital cost between Rs250,000 and Rs350,000 a month per person while they also got more than two prime plots that was an indirect tax on the government exchequer.

“An officer who apparently takes home a salary of about Rs100,000 per month is costing the government about Rs800,000-100,000 per month if his housing facility, official plots and other benefits are put together,” an official said who attended the meeting.

This was in addition to other forms of corruption that officers resorted to, instead of allowing fresh and capable minds from the private sector to join government jobs.

The meeting was asked to offer plots and houses to be vacated by officers for auction to build international chains like Centaurus 7-Star Hotel and high-rise buildings to generate investment opportunities, increase productivity of prime land close to government offices and generate new jobs by unleashing only 30 per cent of the true potential.

The Planning Commission proposed to start the scheme from G-6 and F-6 sectors in Islamabad by vacating state land from officials.

The Capital Development Authority chairman also presented a blue-print of a pilot project.

According to the sources, the finance minister was concerned over the political support or lack of it and wondered how so many people could be relocated. He also asked why the government should pay three times higher salary to those who were happy with lower salary and no housing facility.

It was clearly evident that the finance minister was not ready to take political risk to push through reforms agenda, a participant said.

After a lot of discussions, the finance minister constituted a committee comprising secretaries of housing, planning and finance, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and CDA chairman to look into the subject and see why the pilot project should not be started at some vacant piece of land instead of demolishing government residences.