Khudayar Mohla
While discussing a 20-point agenda including the names of 172 individuals on Exit Control List (ECL) in wake of fake accounts case the federal cabinet on Wednesday decided to send the matter to ECL Review Committee working under Ministry of Interior.
Under the chair of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the federal cabinet decided that it will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to take individuals name off the list.
Addressing a press briefing after the cabinet meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the concerned agencies have been asked to submit their recommendations to the interior ministry, after which it will be submitted to a review committee saying the committee will finalize a report which would be submitted before the cabinet next week.
Chaudhry claimed that previous government helped a person being investigated escape from the country saying former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi provided his plane to former finance minister Ishaq Dar while helping him to escape.
It is worth mentioning that recently the Supreme Court has questioned how the government had placed the names of 172 individuals on the no-fly list without its approval whereas among many other senior politicians in Sindh, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s name was also on the list.
Fawad Chaudhry informed that the cabinet has directed the Statistics Division to monitor the prices of items of daily use regularly and brief the cabinet on weekly basis. He told that the Division will monitor and collect data on prices of items of daily use in 76 markets and forty cities and will submit its report to federal cabinet each week.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the cabinet also decided to expedite the privatization of five units including Haveli Bahadur Shah, Lakhra Coal Mine, Services Hotel Lahore, divestment of government shares in petroleum companies and K-Electric.
The cabinet also established a committee of Land Bank headed by Defense Minister Pervez Khattak. It will identify as many as 150 prime properties for use in various public sector projects and submit its report to the cabinet in its next meeting. The Minister said 9442 kanals of unused land has been identified at the federal level, 56000 kanals in Punjab and 5258 kanal in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so far.
The minister said cabinet also accorded approval to three additional posts of judges in Islamabad High Court. It will increase the number of judges from 6 to nine, in addition to Chief Justice.
He said a Poverty Alleviation Coordination Council has been established that will work under Dr. Sania Nishtar. It has been tasked to coordinate the activities of various institutions at federal and provincial level in poverty alleviation.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said additional customs duty for offshore exploration companies in order to create a more favorable environment for foreign investment into the country, adding that the PTI government aims to levy tax on income, and not on the companies doing investment.
While giving briefing on Karachi, the Information Minister said it is economic hub of the country and people of the city have entrusted the policies of the incumbent government by voting it saying a high powered Committee has been constituted for the development of the metropolis.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain expressed the cabinet approved a sum of Rs2.8 billion for the construction of FC Headquarters in South and North zones of Balochistan.
The Minister said the export duty on gurh (jiggery) has been brought down to 2.5 percent to enhance local production and export of the commodity, adding that an amount of 123 million euro as loan has been approved for Bus Rapid Transport in Peshawar.
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