In a time when revenue is perhaps the prime motivation for not just all developers and businesses but also individuals, the Senate’s two cents on the NARC-CDA face off come as a surprise.
Previously, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) submitted an application to revoke the lease of land given to the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) so that a housing society could be built in its place. A news source reported today that the Senate Standing Committee submitted its recommendations in support of NARC. While only future court proceedings can firmly determine the outcome of the case, the committee’s opinion comes as great news for the research centre.
“The land of this nation is not only for those who want to bring benefit to themselves in terms of revenue and to build housing schemes, it also belongs to institutions working for the progress of the nation as a whole,” NARC Director General Abdul Azeem Khan told Zameen.com.
During a conversation with Zameen.com, DG Khan emphasised the importance of NARC as a highly beneficial and vital centre for research. The institution features 94 laboratories, research centres, and other important structures that facilitate research in various important fields.
“NARC is an essential platform for international collaboration as it often played host to delegates, ambassadors, and other international representatives to support the research initiative. Furthermore, it has attracted PKR 108 billion in investment from donors for research purposes in the last 40 years and had provided more than PKR 4,000 billion in revenue to the country through research solutions,” he stated emphatically.
Allegations and repudiations
In a bid to develop a huge housing and commercial complex on 1,400 acres of land in the national park area where NARC is currently located, the CDA previously moved a summary through the Cabinet Division and appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, claiming that NARC had been violating the terms and conditions of the lease. The Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council (PARC), which owns NARC, refuted this claim and said no notice was given regarding any violations in the lease agreement and that no violations had been made.
According to DG Khan, structures erected on the land had been approved by the CDA and were according to PC-1 and the master plan. Less than 5% of the permitted area was used for residential purposes and served as living quarters for full-time employees who conduct research even during the weekends.
He also mentioned that the 90-year lease for the land had expired in 2005 and since then the CDA had issued no notification regarding violations. It sought the revocation of the lease all of a sudden, completely out of the blue.
The CDA recently submitted a report to the Senate Standing Committee showing 40 similar cases in which lease agreement violations had been made. However, the committee pointed out that all those cases had been handled with the imposition of a fine or a warning rather than revocation of the lease agreement. Hence, there was no reason why the NARC should be treated differently.
The CDA even proposed relocating NARC to Chakwal. Asked about this, DG Khan told Zameen.com that this was impossible.
“NARC is a huge platform and I am very proud of its accomplishments. It is a national institution and not a provincial one. Thus, relocation to another area is not possible as the institution should remain within the federal capital. Moreover, relocation would not allow the rebuilding of the same infrastructure. We wouldn’t be able to retain the specialised manpower we have now,” he said.
Looks like the Senate and the DG are on the same page. What are your views on this tussle? Let me know in the comments section below.
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Hats off to Senate Standing Committee, it has given a just report and PM must provide an immediate relief to NARC. CDA has neither legal nor a moral jurisdiction to destroy such a glorious institution.
Agriculture, undoubtedly, is the back bone of our economy and we must be proud of it. Chairman CDA and only few alike in his organization are probably unaware of this fact.
If they are serious to earn mere revenues from such developments, we have ample barren / non-cultivated land for housing societies, bit away from cities. Let CDA officials visit UAE once and see how their development authorities have developed cities on mere sand. They have turned worthless sand dunes to paradise, where our wealthy Pakistanis including our legislators have invested their billions and billions of ill gotten dollars,
No one must dare to touch NARC land and this must be the resolve of all loyal Pakistanis, wherever they are.