EDITORIAL: No doubt the merciless recurring spells of monsoon in the country have deprived millions of their abodes. But thanks to another kind of windstorm, none of the as many as 35,000 government employees has any house what to talk of its real or perceived destruction by the juggernaut of monsoons. That windstorm is the Punjab Government Servants Housing Foundation (PGSHF). Founded in 2004 with a mission “to reward retired employees for their labour, hard work and commitment” it promised to build houses for the government employees on ‘no-profit no-loss’ basis.
It established housing schemes in 11 districts of the province and had committed to giving houses to retired employees. But 18 years on, 35,000 government employees still await even the possession of plots. Take the case of Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf from Faisalabad. He paid the due cost of the plot, but there is no plot — as is the case with rest of employees. And as he approached the top-slot managing director of the foundation, according to a newspaper report, “the managing director of the foundation was also not good towards the allottees who were being forced to sell the files or the plots”.
Another government employee says he had spent all his hard-earned money to get the map of the house approved but he was not allowed to construct the house. This is the case because as Managing Director Naheed Gul Baloch revealed the foundation did not have the required land to give plots or construct houses, and therefore thousands of cases are pending.
This situation gives birth to a pertinent question: if a government-run setup is selling plots, which are only on books and not on ground, is there a point in complaining against 3,263 other housing societies — approved, unapproved and illegal — in Punjab? These so-called housing societies, too, sell plots that exist in files only. Therefore, the fact remains that the only business in Pakistan that remains unaffected by ongoing vagaries of climate change and economic slowdown is the business of housing societies. Unfortunately, successive governments have paid no attention to the fact that millions of people are losing their life-savings to the bunch of crooks who sell plot which are not there.
In the national capital alone while authorised housing societies are 64 the illegal are more than twice that number. Accepted, nearly 20 million abodes are need of the hour in Pakistan, but that doesn’t mean filling up that gap should provide safe haven to cheats, con men and clever crooks. Enough is enough. The governments, both federal and provincial, should revisit what is on the book with regard to housing schemes and societies. As a matter of policy the housing societies’ owners should be allowed to advertise and sell plots only after they deposit with government the relevant land-ownership record. Unfortunately, the need for ‘no-profit, no loss’ foundations to help the cause of homeless people is no more valid.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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