Punjab govt amends official residences allotment policy
According to official documents, Muhammad Faisal has been residing without formal allotment at House No. 9, Golf Road, GOR-I, and had submitted a formal request to the Punjab government and the Services & General Administration Departm ent (S&GAD) for permanent allotment.
The S&GAD initially maintained that Muhammad Faisal was not eligible for government housing in GOR-I under the existing Punjab Residence Allotment Policy 2024. The documents highlight that clause 3.1(c) of the policy restricts eligibility to officers within the S & GAD cadre strength, whereas Muhammad Faisal belongs to the Police Department. Therefore, he was considered ineligible not only under the regular policy but also could not be accommodated under the Chief Minister's 10 percent hardship quota.
However, when the Services & General Department formally opposed the allotment, stating that it would be a violation of the existing policy, it also noted that the only way to proceed would be to relax the policy itself. Additional Chief Secretary Punjab, Ahmad Raza Sarwar, reiterated that Muhammad Faisal was ineligible under the current rules.
Despite this, Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Zaman wrote in the same set of documents that since Muhammad Faisal is ineligible under current policy, the Punjab Cabinet should approve a policy relaxation so that a house in GOR-I can be officially allotted to him.
Acting upon this, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister directed that House No. 12, Golf Lane, GOR-I be allotted to DIG Operations Muhammad Faisal. To make this possible, Grade-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, Zaheer Hassan, who was already residing in that house, was instructed to vacate it and instead be shifted to the house where DIG Faisal was residing without allotment.
The Services Department was subsequently instructed to prepare a new summary for formal allotment. Additional Secretary (Welfare), Capt Samiullah Farooq (R), wrote in the file that as per telephonic instructions received from the Chief Minister's Office, the allotment summary was being resubmitted accordingly.
The final decision approved the allotment of House No. 12, Golf Lane, GOR-I to DIG Muhammad Faisal.
An interesting twist followed when it was revealed that House No. 12, which was now approved for DIG Faisal, was officially allotted to Grade-22 PAS officer Zaheer Hassan, who was asked to vacate the house.
Furthermore, it was recommended in the same set of documents that House No. 5, Patiala House, be officially designated as the permanent residence of DIG Operations Lahore. However, House No. 5 had already been approved earlier for DIG Operations but is currently occupied by former DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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