NA committee pushes for control of state-owned properties

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Tuesday recommended passage of a bill to create a Federal Government Real Estate Management Authority, saying state-owned properties were not being used efficiently and were vulnerable to encroachment.

The committee, chaired by Malik Ibrar Ahmad, unanimously cleared the proposed law without any amendments for approval by the National Assembly. Members stressed what they described as the need for prudent utilisation of government properties for optimum economic benefit.

During the meeting, Mr Ahmad said several government properties known to him had been encroached upon. Referring to railway land, he said encroachments were removed on the direction of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways after he raised the matter as one of its members. He said the value of such land had increased because of urban expansion and commercial activity, but most public entities had not managed their real estate in a way that delivered the best returns. He supported the establishment of the new authority.

The cabinet secretary told the committee that the federal government owns extensive commercial, urban and rural immovable property across the country, including land and buildings under the control of ministries, divisions and their attached organisations. He said that despite government directions, most of these assets were not being used in an economically viable way and had also faced encroachment and illegal occupation.

According to the cabinet secretary, several earlier efforts to secure better returns from these properties had not succeeded. He said real estate management required specialised expertise and that no existing government body had the exclusive responsibility or capacity to handle the function in a way that could generate meaningful value. Under the proposed legislation, the Federal Government Real Estate Management Authority would own, manage or lease federal government properties, subject to approval by the federal government.

Other bills taken up by the committee

The committee also considered The Archival Material (Preservation and Export Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and recommended it with one change. It replaced the words Secretary of the concerned Division with The PM in Section 2(a).

Members said the power to constitute an advisory committee for deciding the preservation of archival material should lie with the prime minister. The panel also unanimously recommended the Abandoned Properties (Management) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026 without changes for passage by the lower house.

Briefing the committee on the broader legislative exercise, the cabinet secretary said the amendments were intended to streamline governance, improve administrative efficiency and allow the federal cabinet to focus on national policy and strategic issues. He said the Cabinet Division had carried out a comprehensive review of the relevant laws and drafted the bills to shift powers to the appropriate authorities.

He added that the move followed a federal cabinet decision taken in light of the Supreme Court’s judgement in Mustafa Impex, Karachi v. Government of Pakistan.