India, Pakistan to ‘track’ old dues

New Delhi, August 17: Sixty-one years after India and Pakistan got their Independence, the railways of both nations find themselves engaged in a bizarre repartee over non-clearance of outstanding dues worth a few crores, some even dating back to before Partition.

At the heart of the matter is a sum of Rs 16.95 crore which the Indian Railways claims its Pakistan counterpart owes it on account of hire-and-penalty charges up to March 2008. The dues, say officials, are on account of both passenger and freight trains.

But what has amused both sides amused is the Rs 12.34 lakh which Indian Railways claims as outstanding dues to the Northern Railway from the Pakistan Railway on account of Indo-Pak passenger traffic pertaining to a period before July 1965. However, no details are available about these dues. Other unsettled dues include Rs 2.44 lakh, which Indian Railways claims Pakistan Railways owes it on account of passenger traffic between January 1993 and June 2007. Similarly, Indian Railways claims another Rs 6.44 lakh is outstanding against Pakistan Railway under the Suspense Head in the books of North Western Railways.

The matter is religiously recorded in the agenda of the half-yearly meetings between the two countries, but never taken up for discussion because of more pressing issues. But as Indian Railways officials decided to bring the matter to the discussion table, the Pakistan Railways officials took out their own list of dues which they said the Indian Railways owed them.

“It was an amusing situation. The moment the Rs 16 crore worth of outstanding dues was mentioned, Pakistan Railway officials said even after deducting those Rs 16 crore, Indian Railways still owed them another Rs 16 crore,” a Rail Bhavan source said.

Left with little choice Indian Railways officials had to get the Pakistan Railways’ claims put in the minutes of the meeting. Both sides are now awaiting the next half-yearly meeting to pursue their cases.

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