During a press conference on Monday, Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rasheed has said that a $6.8 billion tender for the ML-1 project would be announced that would revolutionize the railway industry, creating around 150,000 jobs.
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Pak Railways to Offer 150,000 Jobs For ML-1 Project
Posted 1 hour ago by Saad Nasir
During a press conference on Monday, Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rasheed has said that a $6.8 billion tender for the ML-1 project would be announced that would revolutionize the railway industry, creating around 150,000 jobs.
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He said that after the completion of the ML-1 project, Pakistan will get a massive boost in terms of job opportunities and there will be a significant rise in the freight business as well. He said that 90 percent of the jobs will be given to Pakistani citizens, while 10 percent of the seats will be reserved for Chinese nationals.
Talking about the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project. he said that since 2017, the restoration of KCR has been in the talks, but no action has been taken yet. Regarding the matter, Rasheed said that the KCR project is going to pick up speed now.
“Under the directives of the Supreme Court, we will put the KCR project on a fast track”, he said, adding that the preparation of KCR coaches is already underway in Islamabad.
In the first phase, 14 kilometers of the track will be revived, out of which 9 kilometers has already been cleared. The total estimated project cost is Rs. 10.5 billion out of which Rs. 1.8 billion has already been released. He said that Karachi is the most crucial part of the railway industry, especially due to the freight transfer activity.
He also stated that Pakistan Railways has suffered huge losses because of the closure of trains due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that it will be recovered through public-private partnerships.
The minister also said that Pakistan Railways will provide the facilities and infrastructure, while private companies will have the responsibility to manage the trains, admitting that the ministry is unable to manage the smooth running of the trains.
Before the press conference, Sheikh Rasheed attended a meeting regarding the situation of Pakistan Railways where he instructed that there should not be any encroachments on the ministry’s land. He also warned that if any Pakistan Railways employee is involved in corruption, there will be serious consequences.