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Pakistan Railways is currently in a lot of trouble as it has only three days of fuel reserves left Image Courtesy AFP
Lahore: Reeling under Chinese debt and rocked by an unstable law and order situation, Pakistan is on the verge of bankruptcy. Most government departments in Pakistan are facing a severe cash crush and the condition of Pakistan Railways is no different.
Pakistan Railways is currently in a lot of trouble as it has only three days of fuel reserves left.
One of the senior officials of Pakistan Railways requested Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq that squeezing the oil reserves for train operations clearly shows that the financial condition of the organisation is really very bad.
A few days ago, the oil stock was left for only one day, the official said, forcing Pakistan Railways to limit its freight operations.
“A few days ago, the Railways had only one day’s oil stock left with it across the country. Which forced the authorities to reduce the operation of goods trains, especially from Karachi and Lahore,” a senior Pakistan Railways official told the media.
Meanwhile, various railway assets, including rolling stock, locomotives and infrastructure, continue to be underutilised.
On the other hand, political instability and unrest created by political parties and other stakeholders is adding fuel to the fire.
A senior official warned on Sunday that the Pakistan Railways will become a defaulter if the government continued to ignore the department.
The official said that the financial condition of the department is almost at a standstill as it does not have the money to clear the liabilities of around Rs 25 billion in the form of gratuity for several officers/officials who have retired in the last one year.
He revealed that the department is not even able to pay the monthly salary of the employees and pension of the retired officers. Those who should get salary and pension on 1st of every month are getting salary after a gap of 15 to 20 days.
Recently, train drivers decided to go on protests and strikes across the country as they did not get their salaries for the last month as well.
“Now you can well imagine the state of PR,” said the official. According to him, the financial condition of the department was better in the financial year 2017-18 and before that its annual freight revenue had reached the figure of 20 billion per annum, including the income from the dedicated coal operation from Karachi to Yusufwala (Sahiwal). was involved.
However, it gradually started falling later and has now shrunk to around Rs 16 billion, including earnings from the Karachi-Sahiwal coal transport operation, which has been reduced due to coal imports from Afghanistan. Is. The official said that despite the arrival of new coaches from China, the condition of passenger train operations is going down by about Rs 20 to Rs 25 billion. The recent floods in Sindh and Balochistan also affected operations, leading to a drop in revenue.
According to a report by Dawn, PR has miserably failed to generate and raise revenue to overcome the financial crisis and it seeks financial help from the federal government to meet its rising expenses. Under the policy, PR is required to invite and engage the private sector in its operations, especially freight operations. But over the years, it has failed to do so.
Dawn reported that when contacted, PR Chief Executive Officer Salman Sadiq Shaikh accepted that PR is going through severe financial crisis these days. “We are running our trains with three-day oil inventory as we do not have money to maintain it for a month. The financial condition of PR, like other departments, moves in tandem with the condition of the government who is facing a similar situation.
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