Daily Times

Sir: PTI has made a commitment to provide five million houses within its tenure of five years. This is a very uphill task, if not impossible. It not only requires massive financial resources but also super-power managerial qualities. If one million houses are to be provided annually @ Rs. four million a house it will cost four (04) trillion rupees annually and twenty (20) trillion rupees for five million houses within five years. The staggering figure will baffle the policy makers of a financially-starved economy. I have a quick-fix to solve the problem for one major section of our society.

We have an estimated 2.85 million government employees in Pakistan. If an average amount of Rs. 3,000/- (can vary from lower to higher grades) is deducted from their monthly salaries the annual contribution may go up to one trillion rupees annually (To be precise Rs. 1.026 trillion). With Government’s contributions this Fund can further swell. A separate Fund titled “Housing for Government Employees” can be opened to be controlled either by the Government or by the representatives of Government employees including representatives of Government. No complicated calculations are involved.

A simple mathematics is needed. After lapse of one year each retiring employees will get a house out of this Fund. If average cost of a house is estimated at rupees four million about 25650 houses can be constructed annually with this amount. Land can be provided by the Government (on payment) because that will be free from all encumbrances. In this way a venue will be opened for provision of houses to all 2.85 million Government employees on their retirement. The Fund can keep on accumulating huge chunk of money over a period of time without any financial contribution by the Government. Various other models on the basis of this idea can be developed.

This scheme is very practical. While serving as Additional Finance Secretary, Balochistan I had had created a separate Fund out of monthly contributions made by Government employees from their salaries for a parallel life insurance scheme. Now the Fund has to its credit billion of rupees and on retirement each employee receives a very handsome amount.

MUHAMMAD NADEEM BUTT

Islamabad

Published in Daily Times, October 21^st 2018.