ISLAMABAD – Federal Cabinet on Tuesday decided to abolish all theministries and divisions budgetary allocations meant for entertainment andgifts with an aim to ensure judicious utilization of public money forwelfare of the common man.
“There were some provisions in ministries and divisions, under which fundswere allocated for ‘chai and pani’ (tea and water). The cabinet hasformally abolished these provisions today. So now there will be noentertainment and gift funds there,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister(SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said whilebriefing media on the Federal Cabinet meeting.
She said the cabinet also decided to end the culture of additional chargein all the ministries and divisions within next three months as such postswould be filled properly. No summary for approval of additional chargewould be presented in the cabinet in future, she added.The SAPM said the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan,deliberated on 16 agenda items and most important among them was ensuringimproved supply of electricity to consumers during the holy month ofRamazan especially at Sehr and Iftar hours.
She said the cabinet ratified the decisions of previous meeting of EconomicCoordination Committee.Firdous Ashiq Awan said the cabinet was briefed by Education MinisterShafqat Mahmood regarding initiatives to bring 30,000 Madaris into nationalmainstream.
She said wrong perception was made in media that these Madaris would beunder the Ministry of Education. Rather, these would be linked with theMinistry but work independently.She said the education minister apprised the cabinet that one windowregistration of these Madaris and monitoring of their funds were importantfor their mainstreaming.
She said the ministry of education would play the role of a facilitator tothe Madaris, adding that modern education was the right of the everychildren studying at the Madaris. “We wanted to provide modern and qualityeducation to them as they are also our children” she added.
Firdous Ashiq Awan said the students would also be taught about use ofsocial media so that they could be brought out from isolation.As per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the SAPM said a uniformedcurriculum would be introduced in all schools and Madaris. While, Ministryof Education would also assist the foreign students studying in theseMadaris, she added.
In addition, she said, vocational training would be imparted to Madressahstudent for their capacity building so that they could be more usefulmember of the society after passing their graduation.
The SAPM said the cabinet also ratified agreement on technical cooperationbetween Pakistan and Brazil, besides it approved the annual report ofSecurities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) that would bepresented in the Parliament.She said the cabinet was also informed about the steps taken by theMinistry of Health to reduce the prices of medicines.
Firdous Ashiq Awan said the cabinet had decided to renew the licences ofcellular companies worth $449 million. She said that the cabinet had alsodecided to establish Pakistan China Engineering University at PrimeMinister House. She said that China would provide about Rs 400 billion forthe university.She said that cabinet had also decided to reactivate Pakistan Steel Millsthrough public private partnership.
The SAPM expressed confidence that the next federal budget would be in linewith the public expectations and all allied parties would be taken intoconfidence before presenting the fiscal budget in the parliament.
Commenting on PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s return to jail, she said it wasunfortunate that a convicted person was going back to jail with such pumpand show by his party.She said in civilized societies convicted persons were not glorified,adding that glorifying the convicted person tantamount to committing thesame crime. “Nawaz Sharif is a convicted and not an accused.”
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The SAPM said convicted Nawaz Sharif was violating all rules and laws ofthe jail manual.Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan said that government had set the targetto get rid of the power circular debt by December 2020.He said during 2017-18, the circular debt had increased by Rs 450 billionwhich would be brought down to Rs 293 billion during the current year andRs 96 billion by 2019-20. However, the circular debt would be completelyovercome by end of next year.
He said the prime minister was told that a 25-year plan had been finalizedto bridge the ever increasing gap between demand and supply of electricity.Moreover, a fresh policy for power production through alternate energyresources had been formulated, he added.Under the policy, the minister said 20 percent of total electricity wouldbe produced from alternative resources by 2025 which would be enhanced to30 percent by 2030.
The minister said that the ministry’s drive to curb power theft andrecovery of dues had brought in positive outcomes. Within four months, theadditional power dues worth Rs 48 billion had been recovered that wouldtouch Rs 80 billion mark by year end and Rs 190 billion till June 2020.
He said that a special focus was being given to handle the losses caused bytheft, technical and transmission issues that were coming to fruition.As a step to curb power theft, 27,000 First Information Reports (FIR) hadbeen registered against those involved while 4,225 people had been arrestedincluding 433 officials of the power sector. Moreover, another 1,467officials had been charge-sheeted.
The Minister said that no power load shedding would be done on 80 percentfeeders across the country during the holy month of Ramadan due to improveddistribution and transmission system. For rest 20 percent feeders, a loadmanagement plan had been formulated in accordance with the losses and wherethe ratio of power theft was above 80 percent. However, it has been ensuredto provide uninterrupted power supply during Sehr and Iftar.
He said the previous governments had failed to incorporate the expensesincurred on net hydel profits and different power projects in power tariffthat was why the consumers were bearing an additional burden now.
The installed capacity of the country was 30,000 megawatt while 24,000megawatt could be generated.
The minister assured that Tribal Electric Supply Company would provideelectricity for 10 hours each day instead of four hours in the tribal areasand there would be no load shedding during Sehri and Iftar during Ramazan.
Omar said electricity more than that could not be supplied because of lackof infrastructure. “We will build the infrastructure and install feeders,conductors and polls to improve the system and provide the same kind offacilities as available in other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
About the prices of petroleum products, he said that the PTI government haddecreased the GST and Petroleum Levy on the products as compared toprevious governments.
