Estate Office, Ministry of Housing and Works have so far vacated over 2,758 government properties from illegal occupants and handed over to the entitled persons across the country. Capital Development Authority and other relevant departments of the provincial governments have helped the Estate Office to vacate government properties,” sources in the Ministry of Housing and Works told APP. They said that the Ministry had also launched comprehensive operation against the encroachments and illegally constructed structures in government residences in the federal capital. A punitive action would be taken against the construction of extra rooms by the employees and their kith and kin, which lived in the government allotted houses, they added. At present, the sources said over 17,000 government houses in Islamabad were under the management of the Estate Office and additional rooms had illegally been constructed by the allottees in over 2,400 residences. The basic purpose of the operation was to clear the government residences of encroachments, they added. They further informed that over 25,000 government employees were currently on the general waiting list to get accommodation, but they could not be provided with the same as retired employees, their relatives and relatives of even late government employees continued to live in the government quarters. About the criteria of allotments, they said that Estate Office was strictly allocated to the government employees on the basis of merit and as per apex court directions relaxation of rules under Rule 29A of the Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2002 except in the case of hardship.