LAHORE: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways has given approval to budgetary proposals relating to the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2016-17.
NA Standing Committee Chairman Syed Naveed Qamar, while briefing the media at Pakistan Railways Headquarters on Friday, said that Rs 46.422 billion had been allocated under the PSDP for the year 20116-17. He said that 98 per cent of the allocation would be spent on the ongoing projects, and remaining on the new projects.
He said that the proposals, approved by the standing committee at its 15th meeting, would be sent to the Ministry of Finance for approval now, and later on it would be made part of the finance bill for the year 2016-17.
Syed Naveed Qamar said that the meeting also discussed the status of Railways cases, being probed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) currently.
He said that four cases had been disposed of after thorough investigation and probe was under way into some other cases. He hoped that all investigations would be concluded transparently.
Later, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique told the media that an agreement on e-ticketing would be signed till June, and gradually the new system would be fully implemented.
He said that upgradation process of trains was in progress and Pakistan Express train would be inaugurated in June after the completion of the process. The minister said that in three to four years, upgradation of all trains would be completed.
Responding to a question, he said that Royal Palm Golf Club case had been pending with the Supreme Court, while NAB was actively pursuing the Business Express train case and hoped that the embezzled amount would be recovered soon.
The PR wanted to bring down its deficit from Rs. 27 billion to Rs. 25 billion, he said and added the government had announced facilitating the pensioners and the department would try its best to contain its current deficit in lieu of the increased expenses.
Responding to another query, he said that a plan was being implemented to facilitate porters in near future.
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