ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Tuesday approved four key bills, including “The Federal Government Real Estate Management Authority Bill, 2026,” to establish an authority for managing federal government real estate.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, chaired by Malik Ibrar Ahmad, also approved three other bills: “The Archival Material (Preservation and Export Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2026,” “The Abandoned Properties (Management) (Amendment) Bill, 2026,” and “The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026.”
According to statement of objects and reasons of “The Federal Government Real Estate Management Authority Bill, 2026,” The Federal Government owns a vast tract of urban and rural property throughout the length and breadth of the country.
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These immovable commercial properties, including land and structures built thereon, are owned, operated, and managed by Federal Ministries, Divisions, and organisations under their control. In fact, these properties are affected by multiple problems such as encroachments and illegal occupation.
Despite government directions, most federal government real estate assets are not being utilised in an economically viable manner. In various cases, even the superior courts have issued similar directions.
Managing real estate, especially land, is a specialised function. None of the existing government organisations have the exclusive mandate and capacity to perform this function in a manner that ensures these properties generate meaningful returns for the economy.
Such functions are required to be performed by a dedicated professional agency/organisation. It is therefore proposed that a new organisation, the Federal Government Real Estate Management Authority, may be established to own, manage, or lease properties of the Federal Government as approved by the Federal Government.
The Committee, after in-depth discussion, unanimously recommended the proposed legislation without amendments for passage by the National Assembly.
During the course of discussion, Chairman Ahmad observed that various government properties, personally known to him, had been encroached upon. Referring to encroachment of Railway land, he said he had raised the issue in a meeting of the Standing Committee on Railways as a member, and the encroachers were evicted on the directions of the Committee.
He said that these lands had gained value over time due to the expansion of urban areas and growth in commercial activities; however, most government entities had not been able to manage these real estate assets optimally. He supported the establishment of the proposed authority.
The Secretary, Cabinet Division, apprised the Committee that the Federal Government owned a vast tract of urban and rural immovable property across the country, including land and structures built thereon, which were owned, operated, and managed by Federal Ministries, Divisions, and organisations under their control. However, despite government directions, most federal real estate assets were not being utilised in an economically viable manner and were also subject to encroachment.
He further stated that these properties were affected by multiple issues such as encroachments and illegal occupation. He added that several attempts had been made in the past to utilise some of these properties for generating optimum economic returns; however, these efforts had not succeeded.
He said that managing real estate, especially land, is a specialised function, and none of the existing government organisations have the exclusive mandate or capacity to perform this function in a manner that ensures optimal economic returns. He added that such functions should be performed by a dedicated professional agency/organisation. He stated that a new organisation, namely the Federal Government Real Estate Management Authority, would be established to own, manage, or lease federal government properties as approved by the Federal Government.
The Committee also discussed and recommended “The Archival Material (Preservation and Export Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2026,” with an amendment in Section 2(a), replacing the words “Secretary of the concerned Division” with “the Prime Minister.” The Committee was of the view that the authority to constitute an advisory committee for deciding the course of action regarding preservation of archival material should rest with the Prime Minister.
The Committee unanimously recommended “The Abandoned Properties (Management) (Amendment) Bill, 2026” and “The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026” without amendments for passage by the National Assembly.
The Secretary, Cabinet Division, stated that relevant laws had been reviewed and amendment bills prepared to rationalise and reassign powers to the appropriate authorities. He also informed the Committee that the Federal Cabinet had taken this decision in light of the Supreme Court judgment in Mustafa Impex, Karachi v. Government of Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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