Meeting of the Standing Committee on Railways held

Islamabad (HRNW)- The meeting of the Standing Committee on Railways held today under the Chairmanship of Mr. Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, MNA, in Parliament House, Islamabad.

The meeting of the Standing Committee on Railways commenced with the recitation from the Holy Quran. The Chairman informed the Committee that the minutes of the last committee have been provided by the Secretary Committee but yet not finalized as he made some corrections so the Committee pended for it approval in next meeting. The Committee also allowed the Ministry to furnish the implementation status on the last recommendation during the next meeting. The Secretary/Chairman Railways briefed the Committee that the recruitment process in Railways is stopped in the light of court order and comprehensive briefing can be arranged for the Committee.

On the issue of Railways scrape lying unattended at different stations, the CCM Railways informed that three stores at Karachi, Sukkur and Lahore are established for dumping the Railway scrape of three types. CCM also briefed that Railways has fixed the target to sale the scrape of value 1250 million during the current financial years. As regard the theft of Railways scrape, CCM Railways informed the Committee that about 34 FIRs have been registered against the accused and recovered the theft Railway scrap where as other FIRs are still in progress.

The Secretary Railways information about the financial constraints of Railways, the Committee suggested the Ministry to prepare the financial proposals and bring in the next meeting so that the Committee can pass on the recommendation to cater the financial requirements of Pakistan Railways for its smooth functioning.

The Committee also suggested equipping the Railways bogies of each train with the fire fighting system to avoid the future accidents and also consider to offer at least one job in Railways to one family member of the affectees of the incident of Tez Gam Express.

The Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR), also instructed to furnish the final report of Tez Gam Express for the perusal of the Committee. The Committee also has a view that Pakistan Railway should revisit its policies after every years/five years.