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Summary Railways minister Bilour has demanded 400 new railway engines for relieving railways from crisis.
Responding to questions of Nisar Tanveer, Tahira Aurangzeb, Seema Mohiyuddin, and others during the question hour, the Railways minister said that only currently 103 railway engines were operational, while the remaining were undergoing repairs.He said that despite his demand for 400 new railway engines, government had delivered none, while even allocated funds were pending as yet.He further deliberated that even the facts over 13 billion allocation for repairs was doubtful as yet, and also disclosed that foreign loans had been taken, while Railways was under debt to a tune of Rs.42 billion plus.Comparing Indian Railways he said that India had 8,300 operational railway engines, and also stated that so far only departmental audit for Railways had been carried out.Meanwhile, state minister for interior, Malik Ammad informed the House that according to official records, there were 428 Pakistani prisoners imprisoned in various Indian jails, out of which 18 have completed their terms, yet were not released as yet.Foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar informed N.A that during the year 2002-2008, 2,18,161 Americans had been issued Pakistani visas, while the names of beneficiaries was not recorded on these visa stickers.The National Assembly session, which started 65 minutes late under the chair of Speaker Fehmida Mirza, also witnessed the spectacle of PML-N’s Shakeel Awan being reprimanded about maintaining the decorum of the House, when he tried to debate the issue of a school being constructed over Railways estate.
