ISLAMABAD: The people from different walks of life have welcomed the government?s landmark decision to make Pakistan Railways economically viable by converting it into a corporation run by a board of directors comprising on professionals and experts.
Announcing the widely acclaimed decision to improve the railways, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said in his budget speech, ?The destruction of railways is not acceptable for us.? He also added that a total of Rs 31 billion is allocated for the railways to improve a mode of transportation. The people said that with such effective measures, the Pakistan Railways will regain its past glory and position, which used to be a reliable mode of transportation. An unknown person Ahmad, who runs electric store in Abpara, said, ?My relatives lives in Karachi and due to the poor performance of railway, we were not able to visit them since three years, but now I am hopeful that the government will take steps for its betterment.?
Similarly, a housewife, Salma, said, ?My parents are in Quetta, but due to collapsed railway structure and poor conditions of trains, I was not able to celebrate eid with them since few years.?
She said it seemed that the government had chalked out a comprehensive plan for making railway an independent corporation. The Pakistan Railways has been conducting meeting on a daily basis since the previous government miserably failed to pay due attention for its amelioration. During the second tenure of Nawaz government, the efforts were made to improve the condition of the Pakistan Railways, but these measures could not be fully materialised due to opposition of the unscrupulous business elements. The previous government also took some measures but these were short-lived and inadequate.
As part of such efforts, the operation of three passenger trains and one freight train was outsourced to private management. The board will have to look into all these problems accumulated over the years and the main job will be to take up the cancellation of the order for the procurement of Chinese locomotives besides other issues, including land lease.
Highlighting the railways plight, the finance minister says the railway is the victim of grave problems, including bad governance, low investments in maintenance, induction of new locomotives, upgradation of rolling stocks, replacement and modernisation of primitive signalling system, efficient 21 communication network, track maintenance and doubling of the track on mainline.
Thus, he said through an Act of the Parliament, the Pakistan Railways will be converted into a corporation, with due job security and terms and conditions of the employment of the existing employees. The railway shall be managed by an independent board to be drawn from amongst the professionals from the fields of public transport, engineering, management, accountancy, finance, law and public administration.
With the approval of the board and the federal government, the railway administration will design a policy for public private partnerships for the profitable utilisation of all railway assets.
The total funding for railway will be gradually increased for locomotives, doubling of track, addition to rolling stocks, rehabilitation of signalling system and modernisation of communication links. The feasibility studies will be completed for linking Pakistan through the rail from Gwadar to Afghanistan, on one side, and Gwadar to China, on the other.
