PM tasks party MPs to contact ‘others’ too

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has tasked the ministers to stay in contact with the members of the national and provincial assemblies from the ruling party and also contact people with whom they have personal relations for the upcoming Senate elections.

The premier said while addressing the federal cabinet meeting Wednesday that tickets were given on merit in the Senate elections, as the PTI respects the viewpoint of its workers. “We want to curb the use of money in Senate elections,” the premier said, according to Geo News. He said he would personally monitory election matters.

The federal cabinet was told that all the economic activities would be restored from March 01, as the coronavirus cases were declining in the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the government had directed all the ministries to ensure reduction in unnecessary expenditure so as to save the people's tax money. The premier directed the secretary finance to make public all the deficit-ridden government agencies and the extent of the deficit so that the people have a thorough knowledge of the affairs of the country. The public should also be kept informed of the progress.

The cabinet, with Imran Khan in the chair, took stock of the key national issues, including the economic situation, corona pandemic, its vaccination, missing persons and the cases of sexual abuse of children.

Briefing journalists about the cabinet decisions and replying to their questions, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said the issue of enforced disappearances was raised by Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari. The cabinet reiterated that the present government was a firm believer in full transparency and rule of law.

Imran Khan directed the minister of law that the process of bringing legislation in Parliament in this regard be expedited. He recalled that he also used to visit sit-ins of the families of the missing persons to show solidarity with them. “Half of the agony of family members finishes on knowing that their dear-one is alive and kept there. So person is alive,” the minister maintained.

Shibli Faraz said that security issues occurred in all countries but there had to be a mechanism of three, six or nine months, as the first concern of the families was to know whether or not their missing dear one was alive and where was he.

The cabinet took serious note of the incidents of sexual offenses and expressed concern over the reports in this regard and directed that the implementation of laws and measures be taken to prevent these offenses.

The prime minister expressed concern over the incidents of child sexual abuse despite the enactment of the Zainab Alert Law. He issued directions to relevant authorities to take measures to stop these incidents of sexual crimes against women and children.

The cabinet was briefed on the coronavirus status and prevalence rate. The cabinet was informed that the number and prevalence of corona cases in the country were declining. It was told that the corona vaccine was being administered to frontline workers. About 50,000 frontline workers have been vaccinated so far and the process is being expedited.

The prime minister explored the progress made in giving the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis and the installation of electronic voting machines. The prime minister said that the present government was committed to making the electoral process fully transparent. He directed the Electoral Reforms Committee to identify all the administrative steps required for the installation of electronic voting machines in consultation with the president and to set timelines in this regard. The prime minister said that ensuring full transparency of the electoral process was the top priority of the present government.

The cabinet appreciated the law passed by the present government to give women their right to property and directed that the process of enacting a law on immediate resolution of property issues of Pakistanis abroad should also be expedited.

The cabinet was also briefed on the progress made so far in relinquishing government lands from the occupation mafia. The cabinet was also briefed on the progress of the Islamabad Metro Bus Project.

The cabinet approved a 25 percent disparity reduction allowance for 2017 to reduce the pay gap between the employees of various departments of the federal government and to provide relief to the government employees. The hike will apply from grade-1 to 19 and will take effect on March 01. The cabinet also decided that provincial governments would be instructed to reduce the pay gap in their departments.

The cabinet was informed that time-scale promotion was being given in grades 1 to 16 on the pattern of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was informed that the ad hoc relief allowance was being integrated into the basic salary from July 1, the real benefit of which will be available to the pensioners.

Talking about the demand for pay increase, the prime minister said that the plight of government employees was fully understood. He said that people across the country have been suffering due to past mismanagement and difficult economic situation. He said the corona pandemic added to the economic woes.

The prime minister said that keeping in view the economic difficulties of the country, the present government had launched an austerity drive and it was initiated from the Prime Minister's Office.

The cabinet approved reconstitution of board of governors of Pakistan Institute of Management Karachi. The cabinet, on the recommendations of the Election Commission, approved the deployment of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) troops in NA-221 Tharparkar-I during the by-elections.

The cabinet approved appointment of Javed Qureshi as Chairperson Board of Directors, Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited. Replying to a question, the minister clarified that at the time of no-confidence vote against incumbent Chairman Senate Muhammad Sanjrani, he was Leader of the House and knew that the chairman had personal relations with senators and they voted for him. He added that the PTI government believed in the principle of continuity of the chairman, as never in the history this had happened that he was removed this way.

About price hike of essential commodities, he pointed out that various factors were behind it, like when PTI formed government, there was no governance, there was a huge gap between revenue and expenditure and then COVID also happened.

Shibli said the government would try that the next general elections should be held using the electronic voting machines and giving representation to the overseas Pakistanis as well. Shibli noted the government was making an effort that all elections including general and Senate elections should be held in a transparent manner.