ISLAMABAD:
Senators across the aisle on Wednesday objected to the Rawalpindi metro
bus project and laptop scheme and called for concrete policies and
sufficient allocations of funds to fight terrorism, poverty and
increasing joblessness.
One senator complained that the spending on water reservoirs was equal to the funds earmarked for the metro bus project while another Rs55 billion had been allocated for the Lahore-Karachi Motorway. The government was asked to instead complete the Lowari Tunnel project as soon as possible. The government was criticised for missing out on almost all the macro-economic targets, as reflected in the Economic Survey 2013-14. The senators laid emphasis on more allocations for building water reservoirs.
The House offered Fateha for the departed soul of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and paid tributes to the veteran Baloch leader for his services for democracy and the rights of the people of Balochistan.
Taking part in the budget debate, former provincial finance minister and leader of the Awami National Party Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel proposed that all employees of military, the judiciary, civil servants and private employees, including doctors, lawyers and FBR officers, must file their tax returns.
“The FBR officers who decline to file their returns should be suspended and put in jails. How can they ask others to pay taxes when they themselves don’t do so?” he asserted. He questioned the government’s claim of presenting a pro-poor budget and noted that while duty on 1800cc car had been withdrawn, motorbike parts had been taxed.
The senator reminded the government former premier Shaukat Aziz had promised to release Rs62 billion for lift I and lift III of the Chashma Right Canal but this was never released after it was proved that the Punjab had charged water tax from farmers for the water supply provided by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa free of cost.
He said that if efforts to crush terrorism in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa failed, then people would have two options: either to grow long beard and join the Taliban ranks or migrate to the Punjab and other provinces as IDPs.
Adeel painted a grim security picture of Peshawar and other parts of the province and challenged Imran Khan to bring back his sons and get them admitted to the best provincial school and stay in Peshawar himself for a month to understand how serious the law and order situation was.
He said as against Rs110 billion arrears in the context of net hydel profit from 1990-91 to 2004-05, the federal government should pay Rs56 billion as interest to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He regretted that the capped net Rs6 billion hydel profit had not been paid to the province for the last one year.
Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah of PML-Functional urged the government to sign a separate agreement with India for the protection of Pakistani farmers’ interests. He wanted fiscal powers for the Senate that existed even at the time of Basic Democracy and said this was vital to strengthening the system and making the Federation viable.
The senator contended that senators should also be given representation in the Public Accounts Committee to oversee the implementation of the budget. He also proposed the formation of joint parliamentary standing committees of key ministries for quality legislation and saving time, as was done in India.
He disputed the perception that parliament was supreme and recalled the House privilege committee had summoned a senior officer five times, but he had declined to oblige. “There is nothing in the budget for the 50 percent Pakistanis, who are poor. Moreover, there has not been enough increase in the salaries of the government employees while inflation has increased massively,” said Senator Abdul Rauf of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.
He called for the revival of the Quetta-Zhob rail service to solve the travel problem of hundreds of thousands of people. He noted no uplift steps had been mentioned in the budget for the smaller provinces.
PPP’s Usman Saifullah pointed out that the stability of Pak rupee was made possible only after obtaining loans from abroad. He claimed two families had 18 percent shares in the Karachi Stock Exchange and there had been 1-2 billion dollars increase in their income.
He reminded the ruling PML-N it was mentioned in its manifesto that a separate energy ministry would be established but there had been no progress in this context even after a year.
Senator Talha Mehmood of the JUI-F claimed that massive landsliding was being witnessed in the Mian Charr village and the Geological Survey of Pakistan had called for immediate evacuation of the population and for building of concrete walls to prevent a disaster even bigger than the Attaabad Lake.
PPP’s Dr. Karim Khawaja said the burden of fiscal deficit had been shifted to the salaried class while relief had been given to the affluent. He said the budget lacked any strategy to fighting poverty and joblessness.
One senator complained that the spending on water reservoirs was equal to the funds earmarked for the metro bus project while another Rs55 billion had been allocated for the Lahore-Karachi Motorway. The government was asked to instead complete the Lowari Tunnel project as soon as possible. The government was criticised for missing out on almost all the macro-economic targets, as reflected in the Economic Survey 2013-14. The senators laid emphasis on more allocations for building water reservoirs.
The House offered Fateha for the departed soul of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and paid tributes to the veteran Baloch leader for his services for democracy and the rights of the people of Balochistan.
Taking part in the budget debate, former provincial finance minister and leader of the Awami National Party Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel proposed that all employees of military, the judiciary, civil servants and private employees, including doctors, lawyers and FBR officers, must file their tax returns.
“The FBR officers who decline to file their returns should be suspended and put in jails. How can they ask others to pay taxes when they themselves don’t do so?” he asserted. He questioned the government’s claim of presenting a pro-poor budget and noted that while duty on 1800cc car had been withdrawn, motorbike parts had been taxed.
The senator reminded the government former premier Shaukat Aziz had promised to release Rs62 billion for lift I and lift III of the Chashma Right Canal but this was never released after it was proved that the Punjab had charged water tax from farmers for the water supply provided by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa free of cost.
He said that if efforts to crush terrorism in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa failed, then people would have two options: either to grow long beard and join the Taliban ranks or migrate to the Punjab and other provinces as IDPs.
Adeel painted a grim security picture of Peshawar and other parts of the province and challenged Imran Khan to bring back his sons and get them admitted to the best provincial school and stay in Peshawar himself for a month to understand how serious the law and order situation was.
He said as against Rs110 billion arrears in the context of net hydel profit from 1990-91 to 2004-05, the federal government should pay Rs56 billion as interest to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He regretted that the capped net Rs6 billion hydel profit had not been paid to the province for the last one year.
Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah of PML-Functional urged the government to sign a separate agreement with India for the protection of Pakistani farmers’ interests. He wanted fiscal powers for the Senate that existed even at the time of Basic Democracy and said this was vital to strengthening the system and making the Federation viable.
The senator contended that senators should also be given representation in the Public Accounts Committee to oversee the implementation of the budget. He also proposed the formation of joint parliamentary standing committees of key ministries for quality legislation and saving time, as was done in India.
He disputed the perception that parliament was supreme and recalled the House privilege committee had summoned a senior officer five times, but he had declined to oblige. “There is nothing in the budget for the 50 percent Pakistanis, who are poor. Moreover, there has not been enough increase in the salaries of the government employees while inflation has increased massively,” said Senator Abdul Rauf of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.
He called for the revival of the Quetta-Zhob rail service to solve the travel problem of hundreds of thousands of people. He noted no uplift steps had been mentioned in the budget for the smaller provinces.
PPP’s Usman Saifullah pointed out that the stability of Pak rupee was made possible only after obtaining loans from abroad. He claimed two families had 18 percent shares in the Karachi Stock Exchange and there had been 1-2 billion dollars increase in their income.
He reminded the ruling PML-N it was mentioned in its manifesto that a separate energy ministry would be established but there had been no progress in this context even after a year.
Senator Talha Mehmood of the JUI-F claimed that massive landsliding was being witnessed in the Mian Charr village and the Geological Survey of Pakistan had called for immediate evacuation of the population and for building of concrete walls to prevent a disaster even bigger than the Attaabad Lake.
PPP’s Dr. Karim Khawaja said the burden of fiscal deficit had been shifted to the salaried class while relief had been given to the affluent. He said the budget lacked any strategy to fighting poverty and joblessness.
