Tag: Lahore Gymkhana

  • Punjab Assembly speaker calls Rs. 417 monthly rent at Lahore Gymkhana ‘exploitation’

    Punjab Assembly speaker calls Rs. 417 monthly rent at Lahore Gymkhana ‘exploitation’

    Punjab Assembly took up the issue of the elite club Lahore Gymkhana paying only Rs 417 per month as a lease for over 1,000 Kanals of state land, with the assembly speaker calling it “exploitation.”

    The Punjab Assembly speaker, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, referred the matter to a special committee, which will submit a report within two weeks.

    Interestingly, it was also announced that the Gymkhana proceedings will not be in-camera.

    Geo Fact Check’s investigations in May this year revealed that the lease agreement, signed in 1996, between the then deputy commissioner of Lahore and the secretary of Lahore Gymkhana Club allowed over a thousand kanals of public land in the centre of Lahore to the club for 50 years at the rate of Rs 5,000 per year.

    The lease, effective from 2000, remains valid until 2050, reported Geo Fact Check.

    The prestigious club is known for having top post bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen, and armed forces personnel as members, and it has over ten years of waiting lists for those who wish to join.

    This development comes as the country goes through one of the most difficult economic periods. With high rates of inflation and increasing debts, the government is trying to reduce its bloated expenditures through an apparent austerity drive.

  • Buzdar granted permanent Gymkhana membership worth Rs1.4 million

    Buzdar granted permanent Gymkhana membership worth Rs1.4 million

    Despite the club committee opposing it, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar has been granted permanent membership of the elite Lahore Gymkhana Club after a payment of Rs1.4 million, a private media outlet has reported.

    According to reports, the provincial chief executive was made a member while overlooking at least 3,000 people, the lease policy and terms, over which members of the club have sought details of the move — such as who paid Rs1.4 million for Buzdar’s membership.

    They have also said that at least 60 people were granted membership without following the due procedure, among whom is Buzdar, who was made a member of the social club without an interview.

    The report claimed that committee members had opposed granting membership to CM Buzdar, however, Chairman Kamran Lashari “misused his authority and overruled reservations so as to remain the director general (DG) of Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA)”.

    Lashari has been serving as the WCLA DG since 2016.

    While members of Lashari group have rejected the claims but supported the demand of an investigation into the episode, Lashari himself has said that Buzdar has been granted membership owing to the positive steps he has taken as the Punjab CM.