During his first interaction with the media since his appointment as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, Admiral (Rtd) Fasih Bokhari clarified as to why he was being offered a residential plot by the government.

He claimed that being a ‘government servant’ he was eligible to get one plot as a one-time opportunity in life.

Government employees in the civil setup have so far been ignorant of their eligibility or entitlement to this one-time opportunity in life.

Every government is bound to provide basic necessities of life, including a place to live in, to each and every citizen. Government employees, of course, deserve to be given preference over other citizens.

However, the ‘tradition’ is limited only to the defence personnel. In large number of cases, they are allotted agricultural lands as well.

Because of this special consideration for the uniformed segment of society, there has been mushroom growth of defence housing authorities all over the country.

Once, there used to be a cooperative housing society for civil government employees in Karachi when it was the capital of the country.

To my knowledge it was the first and the last and also much different for it being a ‘cooperative society’.

Civil servants have no heartburning. Nevertheless, they feel that this is discriminatory. They feel that their services for the country are ignored altogether.

Civil servants also put in their best for the nation. After retirement they find no place to live in as no housing schemes with the nomenclature of ‘Civil Housing Authority’ have been founded anywhere.

It would be in accordance with the norms of justice and fair play if our lawmakers and the superior judiciary took notice of this discriminatory attitude on the part of the government.

EHTESHAM SIDDIQUI Islamabad