Islamabad, In a detailed session held on February 19, 2024, at Parliament House, the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works, chaired by Senator Haji Hidayatullah Khan, scrutinized the Federal Government Employee Housing Authority’s (FGEHA) initiatives and obstacles in housing development. The meeting, spotlighting the authority’s achievement of amassing Rs. 56 billion through twelve housing and apartment projects since January 2001, also delved into the cessation of the Thallian Housing Scheme and the intricacies of project delays and legal entanglements affecting property auctions.
According to Senate of Pakistan, the discussion commenced with an overview of Senate Session Question No. 51, introduced by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed. This was followed by the FGEHA Director-General’s briefing on the status of housing projects, including the discontinuation of the Thallian Housing Scheme due to land disputes and plans to reallocate affected candidates to future projects. Concerns about the prolonged incompletion of projects initiated two decades ago prompted the committee chair to request detailed explanations on the benefits for plot allottees and the underlying reasons for the delays.
The Ministry of Housing and Works officials attributed the project holdups to technical difficulties, notably the litigation by Quaid e Azam University over the sharing of proceeds from the auction of commercial plots, which has stalled the sale of plots in sectors G13-G14 and the Mauve Area. Information was also shared on the partial completion of the G14 and G15 projects, including the efforts to resolve land disputes and the allocation of plots to federal government employees and affectees.
Additionally, the committee reviewed the status of the Chaklala Heights project, emphasizing its diminished attractiveness and the inflation of rates post-COVID-19. The session also covered the FGEHA’s employment quota, examining recruitment practices and the observed disparities in employee representation from various provinces between 2020 and 2023.
The meeting was attended by Senators Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Fida Muhammad, Khalida Ateeb, Saifullah Abro, Molana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Afnan Ullah Khan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Works, the Director General of FGEHA, and senior ministry officials.