ISLAMABAD: The member finance of Pakistan Railways has briefed the Standing Committee of National Assembly on Parliamentary Affairs that the Pakistan Railways has undertaken active liability management to address longstanding employee obligations, disbursing Rs5.622 billion for commutation payments (cleared up to May 31, 2023) and Rs1.103 billion for leave encashment (cleared up to March 31, 2024).
A meeting of the committee was held with Iradat Sharif Khan in the chair at the Parliament House here on Thursday in which the secretary, Parliamentary Affairs, briefed the committee on the status of complaints received regarding Pakistan Railways pensioners to the Prime Minister Delivery Unit. The member finance told the committee that while these measures reflected improved financial discipline and commitment to institutional responsibility, the organisation continued to face a significant sustainability gap. Against a current operational surplus of Rs2.4 billion, immediate obligations amount to Rs27.4 billion, highlighting a structural funding shortfall that requires strategic support and long-term financial restructuring to ensure sustainable operations.
The representative of National Highway Authority (NHA) briefed the committee on problems caused by traffic congestion on the Motorway Toll Plaza near Phoolnagar, District Kasur. The committee was informed that in compliance with the approval of NHA Executive Board for revenue enhancement, the new toll plaza was established at Phoolnagar located at KM 1215-1216 in March 2025. Initially, a temporary structured toll plaza (3 × lanes on each side) was established on the existing road. Due to limited numbers of lanes, traffic congestion occurred frequently. Moreover, due to establishment of new toll collection regime, the commuters’ response was very slow for toll payments. As a result, long queues of locals at toll booths were observed. At present, a new 12 lanes (6x lanes each side) toll plaza is 90% completed.
