ISLAMABAD, Feb 2 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday said the provision of unnecessary police squads was not only the wastage of state resources but also against the present government’s policy.
Expressing his grief over the loss of precious lives in Monday night’s accident in Islamabad, he directed to seek the details of police squads provided to various personalities by the federal and provincial governments of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) so that the system could be rationalized.
وزیر اعظم عمران خان کی زیر صدارت وفاقی کابینہ کا اجلاس pic.twitter.com/hSqw0Rdsxi
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) February 2, 2021
The prime minister was chairing a meeting of the Federal Cabinet, which also prayed for the soul of late Shahid Gondal.
Talking about the ongoing campaign against Qabza Mafia (land grabbers), various ministers told the cabinet that thousands of acres of state land belonging to different government institutions like Civil Aviation and Railways was in illegal occupation.
The cabinet was told that state land worth billions of rupees had been retrieved over the last two and a half years.
Presenting before the cabinet the details of land recovered in Punjab, it was told the state land worth Rs 210 billion had been regained in the province.
It was informed that the land grabbers in the past were not only patronized at official level but leaders of some political parties were also involved in the illegal occupation. So far 8,000 acres of land worth Rs 24 billion had been recovered from 36 political personalities.
Details of people belonging to previous governments and lands recovered from them were also presented before the cabinet.
The cabinet was told that in order to maintain the complete record of state land, recovering state assets from illegal occupations and ensuring their effective use, the National Asset Management Authority was being established and in that respect draft of the proposed law had been sent to the Ministry of Law. After the approval of Law Ministry, the process for giving it legal status would start.
The cabinet under the Prime Minister Education Reforms Programme approved a policy for running 200 government buses for schoolchildren.
It was informed about formation of a cabinet committee about the missing persons. The committee would formulate its recommendations in six weeks. Prime Minister Imran Khan was determined about a permanent solution of the matter of missing persons and wanted that there should not be no more such incidence.
The cabinet approved a panel comprising neutral persons for the alternative system of dispute resolution under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2017.
The panel consists of Justice ® Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Advocate Supreme Court Tahir Abbasi, Advocate Supreme Court Shireen Imran, Advocate Supreme Court Humaira Masihuddin, Advocate Hafiz Arfat Ahmed, Advocate Hadia Aziz and Advocate Tania Kamal.
It also approved the decisions of the cabinet committee for CPEC taken on January 26, 2021. The decisions of the cabinet coordination committee taken in January 28 meeting were also endorsed.
The decisions about creating an effective government subsidy programme for the Prime Minister Relief Package for essential items were also taken during the meeting.
The decisions were also taken regarding Zaireen (pilgrims) management policy and tariff rationalization for the power sector.
The cabinet endorsed the decisions taken by the cabinet committee for legislation in its January 21, 2021 meeting.
The cabinet gave consent for posting of Prof Dr Arshad Javed and Dr Sami Khan on two vacant posts of Board of Directors under the Federal Medical Teaching Institute Ordinance 2020.
کابینہ نے کراچی میں واقع ریلوے اراضی کی لیزکے معاملے پر سپریم کورٹ کی ہدایات پر عمل درآمد کے حوالے سے وزیرِ ریلوے، وزیر برائے نجکاری، مشیر برائے ادارہ جاتی اصلاحات، سیکرٹری خزانہ اور سیکرٹری قانون پر مشتمل کمیٹی کے قیام کی منظوری دی۔
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) February 2, 2021
It approved setting up of a committee comprising Railways Minister, Minister for Privatization, Advisor on Institutional Reforms, Secretary Finance and Secretary Law on the issue of lease of Railways land in Karachi.
It also approved the posting of Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the bye election of provincial assembly seat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly and National Assembly NA 45.
کابینہ نے قومی اسمبلی کی نشست این اے-45 (کرم – I) اور صوبائی اسمبلی کی نشست پی کے-63 پر ضمنی انتخابات کے دوران فرنٹئیر کور خیبرپختونخواہ کی تعیناتی کی منظوری دی۔
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) February 2, 2021
The cabinet approved in principle recommendations to make the visa policy more easy. It was told that for the first time Pakistan visa was made online for 192 countries.
The federal cabinet was briefed about the progress of various ongoing projects under the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme specially those started for the provision of self-owned shelter to the low income people.
Details of various incentives, provided by the government to the low income people for the construction low cost houses, including tax incentives, bank financing, mark-up subsidy and measures like making easy the process of approvals and foreclosure law were presented before the cabinet.
It was told that in the head of mark-up more than half of the amount was being paid by the government, which also had paid Rs 36 billion in term of subsidy.
It was further told that around 650 projects had been approved in Punjab during the last three to four months. The number of projects approved in Sindh so far was 19, the meeting was told.
The Naya Pakistan Housing Authority chairman told the cabinet that after the government’s incentives measures, the private sector was expressing keen interest in the construction projects.
In addition to the state lands, 34 projects out of 57 proposals received for the construction of housing units at private lands under the public-private partnership had been approved. Under the projects, over 63,000 units would be constructed at over 20,000 kanal land.
The federal cabinet was told with 45 projects at over 18,000 kanals of land provided by the provinces in urban areas, work on another 23 projects was also in progress. It was further told that Punjab had provided 9,500 kanals of land in peri-urban areas for 87 projects.
The Ministry of Housing told the cabinet that work on the projects, which were pending for the last several years, had been started as a result of which most of the 35,000 housing units worth Rs 139.71 billion would be completed in two years.
The cabinet was told that a total of over 126,000 housing units worth Rs 657.49 billion were being completed by the Ministry of Housing under the projects initiated during the last and the current years.
It was further told that various companies have expressed their interest for the construction of 229,295 housing units worth Rs 830 billion, and the matter was under consideration.
Secretary Housing briefed the cabinet about the projects initiated in various parts of the country.
Besides, the meeting was also briefed about the projects of urban regeneration.
The Prime Minister directed to seek details of housing and construction projects from district administrations of all districts.
