Senate Referrs Journalists’ Housing Quota Issue To Committee
The Senate on Tuesday referred the matter of increasing the housing quota for journalists and media workers from one per cent to two per cent to the concerned committee.
Senators Jan Muhammad, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, and Muhammad Talha Mahmood raised concerns about the one per cent quota implementation by the Ministry of Housing and Works, questioning why it deviated from the approved two per cent. They inquired if there had been a decrease in the number of journalists and media workers justifying the reduced quota.
Minister for Housing and Works, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, assured the House that the housing quota for journalists and media workers could be increased to two per cent in consultation with the relevant ministry. He explained that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is responsible for providing approved lists for the quota, citing terms and conditions set by the Executive Committee of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority in its meetings held in June 2015 and September 2016.
He added that all applicants, including journalists and media workers, who applied for apartments under the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority since January 1, 2015, had been accommodated in schemes reserved for them.