95% Railways Budget is Used for Pension, Salaries and Fuel Costs: Secretary

About 95 percent of the Railways budget is being utilized on pension, salaries, and fuel and there was no targeted subsidy for the Ministry. This was revealed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Railways while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways, who further stated that the priority of the government was the road network instead of the railway network in the country. Secretary, Ministry of Railways apprised the Committee that the Ministry is looking after all the matters pertaining to Pakistan Railways, safety/maintenance of railway lines for strategic reasons, and coordinating in development projects of railways as a part of the national development program. He said that the Ministry also negotiated with international organizations and other countries and implemented the agreements with them. While briefing on the transport and economy at the macroeconomic level, the Secretary informed the Committee that transportation is linked to a level of output, employment, and income. He said that transportation accounts for 6-12 percent of the GDP in many countries. Logistic costs can account for 6-25 percent of GDP, he added. However, at the microeconomic level, transportation is linked with producer, consumer, and distribution costs. He further stated that transportation accounted, on average, between 10% and 15% of household expenditure. The committee was informed that ML-4 is in the planning stage, said the Railway Secretary, adding that they want to build two new lines in the future. The Secretary also briefed about various issues combated by the Ministry of Railways. He explained that 95 percent of the budget was being utilized on pension, pay, and fuel. There was no targeted subsidy for the Ministry. The priority of the Government was the road network instead of the railway network in the country. He further said that in the 2022 floods, tracks were heavily damaged in Balochistan and Sindh. Private sector investment in railways is also low. Committee members said that commercial plazas should be built on railway property. The committee recommendations should be implemented accordingly, the committee members insisted. The secretary also informed the Committee regarding cost-cutting and revenue optimization, restructuring, rightsizing, improvement, degradation, and expansion of railways. The Committee constituted a Sub-Committee under the Convenership of Ramesh Lal, with Waseem Qadir, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, and Zulfiqar Ali, as its Members. The Sub-Committee will look into the issues of encroachments/leases of the Railways land. The Sub-Committee will submit its report to the Standing Committee within 30 days. The meeting was attended by Waseem Qadir, Sadiq Ali Memon, Rafiq Ahmed Jamali, Ramesh Lal, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, Mohammad Ilyas Choudhary, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Zulfiqar Ali and Shafqat Abbas, MNAs. The senior officers from the Ministry of Railways and Pakistan Railways were also present at the meeting.