HYDERABAD, April 30 State Minister for Railways Faqir Jadam Mangrio has said that the Pakistan Railways is running into deficit of Rs50 billion and the government is planning to bridge this gap by auctioning railways land after removing encroachments from it.

He was talking to journalists at a local hotel on Thursday after attending a convention of women workers of the Pakistan Muslim League (Functional).

The minister said that the government was considering privatisation of railways but it would not take any step in haste.

He said that the government had taken steps to eradicate corruption from the department. He said that the railways lacked many facilities for which bureaucracy was responsible, and vowed that he would raise voice against malpractices in the department and put it on right track. Answering a question, he said that although law and order situation was not satisfactory due to terrorist activities but the government was successfully handling the situation.

Earlier, speaking at the convention, the minister ruled out any differences in the PML-F and said that the workers were united under party leadership.

Lauding the services of Ms Saira Naseer, president, PML-F women wing, Sindh chapter, for arranging the convention, Mr Mangrio said that she was working hard to encourage women in different fields, including education, and protection of women's rights.He said that the PML-F would encourage women to take active part in different fields, including economics, culture and social welfare. He announced that such conventions would be arranged in other districts.

Speaking on the occasion, the provincial additional general secretary of the PML-F, Kashif Nizamani, said that the party was encouraging young generation to play its role in the welfare of the nation without any gender discrimination.

In her welcome speech, Ms Naseer said that the convention was held to encourage women of rural areas and highlight their problems. She said that the women wing was being reorganised to make it more effective.

Other leaders of the party also spoke on the occasion and demanded basic facilities in rural areas, protection of women's rights and reduction in train fairs.