Cabinet's proposed restructuring of CDA needs legal cover, interior ministry tells IHC.

Byline: Malik Asad

ISLAMABAD -- The proposed restructuring of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) may need legal cover, the Ministry of Interior told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday.

Appearing in response to a petition filed by the CDA Union against the authority's restructuring, the interior additional secretary said that the transfer of CDA directorates to federal ministries and divisions may require amendments to CDA laws.

The cabinet, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, recently decided to give the CDA's Road Directorate to the National Highway Authority (NHA), which falls under the Ministry of Communication as part of a proposal to restructure the authority.

CDA Hospital and its Health Services Directorate would be handed over to the Ministry of National Health Services while the CDA Model School would be transferred to the Ministry of Federal Education, the Sports and Culture Directorate would go to the Ministry of Interprovincial Coordination and the Road Directorate, Machinery Pool Organisation (MPO), Special Projects and Geological Lab would be transferred to the NHA.

The project directorates for the National Police Academy, Parliament Lodges, Electrical and Mechanical Development, Aiwan-i-Sadr, Ministers' Enclave and Federal Government Residences and Lodges would be transferred to a dedicated cell under the Ministry of Housing and Works.

In addition, CDA has also been asked not to develop new residential sectors and to focus on developing stalled ones instead.

The interior additional secretary said that the Ministry of Interior has noted the letter from the Institutional Reforms Cell dated June 4, 2020, regarding the proposed restructuring of the CDA including the transfer of various formations. However, he conceded that the proposed...