Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated him in the place of Riaz Fatyana and an official notification in this regard would soon be issued. He said he had worked for the committee in the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) so he knew its affairs very well.
Ahmed asked the opposition leader to stay calm as he did not intend to misbehave or fight with anyone after his inclusion in the PAC. However, he announced that there would be two PACs - one of Shahbaz and other would be of Sheikh Rashid. He assured the opposition leader that he was not coming to the PAC with any malicious intent.
"I will play my constitutional role in the PAC," said the minister, while criticising the issuance of production order for the detained PAC chairman every now and then. He said his production order was not even issued when his mother passed away. It was unlawful to issue production order for someone who was under remand, he added.
The minister said those involved in committing the 'mother of all crimes' had been appointed to hold others accountable, adding there was no moral ground for appointing Shahbaz as the PAC chairman. The minister said Pakistan Railways was being turned into an efficient and modern public service utility, adding tracker system would be installed in trains by February 12, which would enable any citizen to track the timings of trains at his/her mobile phone device.
He further said Thal Express would start operation in the second week of February. Work had also been completed on launching of two VVIP trains named Jinnah and Sir Syed soon, said the minister, adding those trains would be non-stop and had higher ticket prices.
Rashid said the promise of launching 20 trains in 100 days of the government had been fulfilled, adding it was first time that a fare of mere Rs 1,350 had been fixed for three trains plying between Peshawar and Karachi. The Railways minister said he would start visiting various train stations of the country from today (Friday) to assess the facilities being provided to passengers and listen to their complaints. He said the government was now targeting to improve the freight service of the Pakistan Railways and increase its market share.