Over a dozen public office holders in
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), including the Legislative Assembly speaker and deputy speaker, are
availing themselves of subsidised or free accommodation in state owned hostels
while claiming a handsome amount from state exchequer as house rent.
AJK cabinet members are entitled to an
official residence in the state capital or a monthly rent of Rs 55,000 if they
opt to live in a private house.
Similarly, the speaker and deputy speaker
of the Legislative Assembly can also avail an official residence or claim Rs 25,000
per month as rent for private residences.
However, instead of residing in official or private
residences, several ministers in addition to the speaker and deputy speaker
reside in the Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) hostel whenever they are in
the AJK capital.
Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N has
termed the practice unlawful and unethical even though there is no specific law which
declares this practice illegal.
The opposition maintains that ministers
are part of the government and entitled to certain privileges which MLAs do not
have.
Legislative Assembly speaker Sardar
Ghulam Sadiq, who is himself a beneficiary, has acknowledged this practice as
“unethical.”
According to details, gathered by this scribe, of the 24 AJK ministers, only five – minister
for local government Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin (senior minister), minister for
college education Muhammad Matloob Inqalabi, minister for physical planning and
housing Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf, minister for agriculture Sardar Akhtar Hussain
Rabbani and minister for Azad Kashmir Loggin and Sawmills Corporation Faisal
Mumtaz Rathore – have acquired official residences in the ministers’ colony
here.
Minister for social welfare Farzana
Ahmed, who is daughter of AJK President Sardar Yaqoob Khan, shares his father’s
official residence whenever she visits Muzaffarabad to attend her office, while
minister for health Sardar Qamaruz Zaman has turned a hostel-cum-guesthouse at
Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) Muzaffarabad into his humble abode
for the past two years, without any costs.
Three cabinet members – minister for
finance Chaudhry Latif Akbar, minister for rehabilitation Abdul Majid Khan and minister
for information Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi - live in their personal houses here while
minister for works Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, minister for forests Sardar
Javaid Ayub, minister for school education Mian Abdul Waheed and minister for
revenue Chaudhry Ali Shan Soni have hired private houses, though at comparatively
low rent.
However, 10 cabinet members – minister
for law Syed Azhar Hussain Gillani, minister for environment Shazia Khatoon, minister
for sports Saleem Butt, minister for transport Tahir Khokhar, minister for tourism Abdul Salam Butt, minister for
prisons Raja Wajid ur Rehman, minister for Zakat and Ushar Chaudhry Afsar
Shahid, minister for food Javed Iqbal Budhanvi and ministers without portfolios
Chaudhry Akbar Ibrahim and Muhammad Hussain Sargala - have neither opted for an
official nor private house, and instead have been living in the MLA Hostel,
while paying peanuts.
It may be relevant to mention here that daily
rent of a single, double and family room in the MLA Hostel is Rs 175, Rs 200,
and Rs 300, respectively, for sitting or former MLAs while others - officials
and private guests - are charged Rs 800, Rs 1000 and Rs 2000 for the same rooms.
Sources said Mr Afsar Shahid, Mr Sargala,
Ms Shazia Khatoon and deputy speaker Shaheen Kausar Dar had acquired family rooms
on monthly basis, paying Rs 9000 per month, whereas the rest, including the Speaker,
would hire a room during their presence in the capital against Rs 200 or 300 per night.
According to sources, since these AJK
ministers spent very little time in Muzaffarabad, they preferred to
live in the hostels instead of renting a house.
“Using the MLA hostel for accommodation
suggests the cabinet members are spending little time at the seat of their
government,” a source said.
Interestingly, in 2009, four prefabricated
bungalows were built on the premises of Legislative Assembly as Speaker House,
Deputy Speaker House, Leader of the Opposition House and LA Secretary House.
However, none of these bungalows were
ever inhabited by their prospective allottees and instead they were also made
part of the MLA Hostel.
Commenting on the ministers’ practice, opposition
PML-N MLA Chaudhry Tariq Farooq said: “This is the height of an illegal as well
as unethical practice. Since they are living in an official accommodation, the
Accountant General’s Office should stop paying them house rent.”
Mr Farooq recalled that last year he had
also drawn speaker’s attention towards this “devious practice” on the floor of
the house but to no avail.
However, when contacted by this scribe,
the speaker maintained that the ministers were “compelled to live in the MLA
Hostel.”
“All of them have applied for official
residences and we have also frequently written to the government to provide
them the same. But that’s not happening due to unavailability of official
houses,” he claimed.
However, when asked was it not unethical
to pay just Rs 200-300 per night while claiming Rs 55000 per month, he said: “I
agree it’s not ethical.”
Regarding his use of hostel, he said he planned
to declare one of the four bungalows as “Speaker House” “but couldn’t do it
because it would reduce the number of (currently 52) rooms in MLA Hostel.”
Even the LA secretary Chaudhry Basharat
Hussain, a BPS-21 official, was also imitating the ministers by staying in MLA
Hostel and paying Rs 200 per night for a family room, under the speaker’s
approval.
The speaker however said he was thinking
of reviewing that order....Tariq Naqash
Ends
