Whose booty is Islamabad?
There is a healing hospital in Islamabad which according to National Assembly documents was given 2.5 acres of government land in the nineties at the rate of only 100 rupees per square foot. It is the most expensive hospital in Islamabad. The condition is 2.5 acres. Even with the land, there is no parking here. The hospital is located in an area where the value of one marla of land will be up to crores of rupees. Wouldn't the fate of polyclinics and PIMS have changed if it had been imposed on government hospitals? Not only this, with this money two or four more good hospitals could be established in Islamabad.
There is a number of elite clubs in the vicinity of Veer Azam House and Parliament. Its name is Islamabad Club. The club owns 244 acres of government land. You will be shocked to know that this land was given to this club at the rate of one rupee per acre per annum.
In 2018, this rate was revised and this amount was increased to Rs. 11. To date, no one in Parliament has felt the need to ask the government to tell us that in five continents of the world, we have been racing for loans, but we have not had time to pay attention to our royalties. Elephants are kept.
Imagine the huge amount of money that could be deposited in the national treasury if this 244 acres of land, located a few steps away from the Serena Hotel, was given to someone at market rate.
You see the perfection of bureaucracy. Land is government which is the trust of the nation. But the club built on the land was declared a limited company. Later, by the order of the President of Pakistan, it was taken into government custody and now it is being looked after by the Ministry of Cadet. But even this arrangement is only on paper. Read the Auditor General's report and you will not only come to your senses but also find out what is the state within the state and how it can be run successfully even sitting in the Prime Minister's House.
It has a membership fee of over Rs. This is a club of elites and it is also a commercial. The question is why the state resources should carry the burden of this elite? It does not care about government regulations nor does it care about papyrus rolls. If dumb people buy a flat in a society or tower with a lifetime savings, it is demolished, but if the elite has digested the entire 244 acres. The law does not look at it.
Go ahead, there is another club next to Islamabad Club. It's called the Guns Club. It has been given 72 acres of land on lease and when the Supreme Court issued notice to the federal government a few years ago, it was found out that it has been given for free. The government did not take a single rupee from the club. Further revelations on this notice of the Supreme Court came when the CDA submitted a report on the order of the court.
The report said that the government of Pakistan had leased 44 acres of this land to the Pakistan Sports Board, which has given it to a club. The CDA also revealed that it was ordered to give another 28 acres of land to the Guns Club and not to charge any rent.
Along with Islamabad Club, only 150 acres of land has been given to Pakistan Golf Federation. You will be happy and happy to know that this land has been leased for only 2.41 rupees per square foot per year.
The recent decision of the Islamabad High Court is a milestone. The decision said that the scheme of allotment of plots for judges, bureaucrats and officers in the special sectors of Islamabad is not only unconstitutional and illegal but also contributes to the national exchequer. 10 trillion has been lost. Now, if such distribution of a few marlas and canals could cause a loss of one trillion rupees to the national exchequer, then estimate the damage to the national exchequer in those lands which have been leased at very modest and symbolic price. What will be the estimate?
Islamabad is the capital but not a single housing sector could be built for the people at reasonable cost. Ministries and elites have distributed it like booty. This is the society of the IB, this is the society of the Senate, this is the society of the Ministry of Industry, this is the society of the Presidency, this is the sector of the employees of the Supreme Court and that of the lawyers of the Supreme Court. This is the Ministry of Overseas Ministry of Commerce. It seems that they had conquered Islamabad by fighting Genghis Khan and now this is their booty.
Bureaucrats who enjoy lifelong privileges finally grab a few lakh plots and after two years of retirement sell for crores and drink tea in the sunshine of Islamabad Club for profit and guide this nation on TV talk shows at night. Here's how accountability should be and what are the guiding principles to save national resources from being wasted.
Since this column was related to Islamabad, I did not dare to turn to Lahore. Residents of Lahore, if they wish, can calculate for themselves whether the gymnasium club established for the elite was bought by one of the ancestors of the elite and allotted to them or is it actually state land. Which has been handed over to the elite so that the burden of their entertainment can be placed on this semi-literate nation whose level of consciousness is still so high that one of the elites can get up and take one street and four gutters from the national treasury. If it is built, it fills the whole neighborhood with the banners of blessed peace as if the elites have sold the squares and factories of the Holy Prophet and built these streets and gutters for the poor people.
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