ISLAMABAD : Criticising the poor performance of the Ministry of Railways, the top court Friday ordered it to present a report regarding railways operations and employees within a month. A two-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard petitions related to transfer of services of the Pakistan Railways employees. During the hearing, the CJP became angry on the secretary railways, saying that he should leave his post as the ministry is not performing adequately at all. “How many incidents have occurred during your tenure?” asked the Chief Justice, saying that rather than doing the office work, the railways official should go into the field and see how the employees are performing. The CJP inquired about the number of employees working in the railways, to which the secretary replied that there are 76,000 employees, 142 passenger trains, and 120 freight carriages. Due to the coronavirus, only 43 passenger trains are operational these days, he added.“You have hired 76,000 people but to run the system of railways only 10,000 employees are enough. Your entire factories and system have stopped working then what are these employees doing?” the CJP asked. The secretary said that computerized data of all the employees is not available, adding that the Prime Minister is working to bring reforms based on a six-point agenda. “In the railways, either people lose lives or the national exchequer faces loss in millions,” said the CJP.
Beyond Politics: Ensuring Judicial Independence for a Thriving Democracy
it is evident that some people believed that senior judges would be as "manageable" as our more experienced politicians. This...
Read more