ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The income of Pakistan Railways (PR) crossed a record Rs 58 billion in the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22, the Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said.
In a written reply to a question in the National Assembly submitted on Wednesday, the minister said that the imbalance between Income and Expenditure of Pakistan Railways has started in 1974 and since then Pakistan Railways has regularly sought help from the federal government to fill the resource gap.
In last FY 2021-22, a sum of Rs 47 billion was allocated as grant in aid by the federal government, he said.
The minister said that though Pakistan Railways earned a record income of Rs 58 billion in the last financial year; however, the expenditure on pay and pension was more than Rs 71 billion.
Similarly, he added, the expense on High-Speed Diesel (HSD) was more than Rs 18.5 billion and is likely to increase further in coming months.
Khawaja Saad Rafique told that the expenses on pay, pension & HSD constitutes more than 85 percent of the total expenditure of Pakistan Railways at present.
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The railways minister also told that the major imbalance between the income and expenditure is due to heavy expenses on payment of regular salaries of about 64,126 employees, payment of monthly pension to about 124,881 pensioners and payment to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) regarding HSD.
Boundary Walls around Railway Stations
To another question, the minister told that boundary walls have been provided around 21 major Railways Stations in the Country namely Rohri Jacobabad, Karachi Cantt, Karachi City, Quetta, Sibi, Mach, Kolpur, Multan Cantt, Khanewal, Lahore, Faisalabad, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Gujranwala City, Kot Lakhpat, Mughalpura, Rawalpindi, Hassan Abdal, Chaklala, and Golra Sharif.
The minister said that no proposal to provide boundary wall on remaining Railway Stations is under consideration at present. However, fencing all along the railway track and stations on main line has been proposed in the ML-I project, he said.