In 1990, the railway authorities decided to lease out their plots to its retired employees who worked in Mianwali to build ‘Khokha shop’ (kiosk) and honourably earn their livelihood. For implementation of this scheme, 90 plots of 10x10 feet were allotted to the deserving people after thorough probe and Rs10 per square foot rent was fixed, which comes to Rs1,000 per year.
After some time the allottees asked the high-ups to allow them to construct shops on these plots because kiosk were insecure. The plea was accepted, and the allottees, with their life’s savings, constructed shops and installed electricity meters, etc. on them.
At that time Mianwali was included in the jurisdiction of Peshawar railway division. So the agreements between the allottees and railways were signed there, but surprisingly the copies of agreements were never handed over to the allottees. Anyhow, there was a clause incorporated in the agreement which was often cited in the notices that, according to the existing rent rules of the government, the rent will be enhanced 25 per cent after every three years. The title of Khokha shop was also changed to ‘Railway shopping centre.’ The allottees duly deposited annual rent with the Peshawar division up to 1995 when Mianwali was included in Rawalpindi division.
Meanwhile, the new division remained tight-lipped and never issued notices of rent recovery to the allottees till the year 2000, and during this period never accepted rent from any allottee either. After a lull of half a decade, suddenly they issued notices for the period 1996-2000 to the allottees, and surprised them with the intimation of enhancing the rent, contrary to the rules and agreement. To pressurize and create further harassment, the railway staff started measurements of each shop and strangely included the eaves of shops in the covered area. The poor allottees demolished them to save themselves. But nobody paid heed to their appeal against the abrupt increase in rent from Rs10 per sq ft to Rs50 per sq ft, and they paid their dues for that period.
The railway authorities in July 2003 served notices containing the threat “the subject land was leased out during 1990. It has been observed that you have violated clauses (a) to (f) of the agreement, hence it has been decided by the competent authority that all licensees/allottees and sitting persons will pay from 1.1.2001, as per the revised rent @ 15% of market value, or Rs5 psft, Rs4 psft, whichever in higher. The allotment of the shop in your possession is therefore cancelled. If you want to continue your business in the shop, then please arrange to deposit Rs162,000 for period 1.1.2001 to 31.12.2003 within 15 days.”
In this way the railway authorities at once enhanced the rent from Rs50 psft to Rs270 psft and clearly ignored their agreements and existing rules of government for rent purposes. According to new rent notices, it is calculated that monthly rent demanded comes to Rs4,500, which is excessive and without any formula.
In 1960, the railways gave plots on 99-year lease to the then Municipal Committee, Mianwali, which constructed 30 shops in Liaquat Bazaar, starting from railway station chowk and gave them on Rs15 per month rent. That rent increased gradually according to existing rules and is now being received by the TMA, from Rs800 to Rs1,000 per month. In the Railway shopping centre, 60 shops are situated on the Kutchery Road and 30 in Liaquat Bazaar, away from main railway chowk. This scribe visited the area and came to know that private shops opposite to the railway shops in both the bazaars carried a rent between Rs1,000 and Rs1,500 per month. To the surprise of everyone, the railway bosses declared Mianwali district as a developed area like Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, and Faisalabad and the proposed rates are being compared with them. They ignored the fact that Mianwali is still a backward area of the Punjab. The most heart rending part of the story is that the poor disabled and retired employees and widows had constructed shops from their own resources and majority of them were receiving monthly rents between Rs1,000 and Rs1,200. How would they pay Rs4,500 per month to the railway authorities?
This correspondent met a widow, Bhag Bhari, who continued weeping while talking for fear of losing her shop and monthly rent from which she supported her family of three daughters after the death of her husband. Widows Alam Khatoon and Khadija had similar sentiments and were reeling from the shock of notices. A disabled retired employee, Karam Elahi, who lost his leg while in service, wondered how at the fag end of his life will he earn livelihood for his family?
A retired station master, Malik Muhammad Din, said it would be a broad daylight robbery if the facility was withdrawn to increase revenue. Gloom prevails among the affected people and they need timely redress from the elected government.
It may be remembered that a couple of years ago railway bosses allotted big plots without open auction and it was widely speculated here that the entire proceeding allegedly was under the table. Some people agitated against this practice and sent applications with offers to pay more for these plots to high-ups but they threw them in the dust bins. This scandal was the talk of the town when there was no elected representative. Now the poor allottees are running from pillar to post to get relief. A delegation of the affectees met MNA Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, who was the mastermind behind the 1990 allotments. He promised them to raise the issue in parliament and get relief for them.