National Assembly proceedings: government urged to immediately summon NFC meeting

The lawmakers from the smaller federating units in the National Assembly on Wednesday urged the government to immediately summon the meeting of the National Finance Commission (NFC) to set a new formula for payment of dues to provinces pending against the Centre ever since the previous NFC award.
The opposition members also took the government to task for its failure to give visible relief in the budget to overcome the menaces of poverty, unemployment and social injustice from the society. On the second day of the debate on federal budget, the House environment was lacklustre and members were busy in gossip instead of taking interest in the speeches when deputy speaker Faisal Karim Kundi had to adjourn the House well before the scheduled time.
Resuming debate in the morning sitting, Pakistan Muslim League senior (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi criticised the allocation of 13 percent of the total budget to the social sector, saying the sector has been completely ignored which has a significant role in brining change in the society.
Referring to the issue of power shortage and load shedding, he said that the government failed to overcome the menace of power shortage adding giving Rs 80 billion to the independent power producers (IDPs) would not resolve the issue of load shedding in the country.
He also suggested that more focus should be on assistance of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) which he said had sacrificed for saving Pakistan. Opposing the government plan for going to the International Monetary Fund to get financial support, Elahi said that it would tantamount to increasing further burden on the exchequer as the country is already under the onus of huge foreign loans.
He suggested devising a home-grown strategy to increase income and overcome financial crisis rather to beg from international community and international financial institutions. Referring to the issue of Balochistan, the PML-Q leader suggested that an all parties conference (APC) should immediately be convened to redress the apprehensions of the Baloch people.
PML-N's Rana Tanveer Hussain came critical on the current budget saying that like the previous year, the government would not be able to utilise Rs 646 billion development funds allocated this year. He also criticised the imposition of proposed indirect taxes and the carbon tax over the petroleum products and urged the government to revisit the move.
Munir Khan Orakzai from Fata regretted what he said Fata being the worst victim of the current war against terror has been ignored in the budget. He alleged that not a single penny was received from the Friends of Pakistan for Fata.
Ghous Bakhsh Mehar of PML-Q suggested more steps for development of agriculture sector to ensure provision of agriculture inputs on cheap rates. He asked the government to provide at least 500 bulldozers to Sindh province for land levelling to increase agriculture yield.
Mehar also suggested linking Gwadar Port with main railway network to make it feasible and also to work on connecting Chaman with Afghanistan through rail network to expedite business relations with the Central Asia. PPP leader and Federal Minister for Planning Makhdoom Shahabuddin while appreciating the federal budget said that various steps have been taken for the welfare of the common man.
He said that due to the nine-point strategy for revival of the economy, the inflation was on decline and it would come to single digit during the next fiscal year adding that the rate of poverty has reduced to 25 percent. PPP's Abdul Qadir Patel advised the opposition to come up with positive criticism rather criticism for the sake of criticism. He strongly flayed the PML-N policies saying instead of playing 'double standards' it must positively guide the government.
He said that the President gives importance to Parliament and desires that all the issues be resolved through it as it is a sovereign body elected by the people. He was of the view that if the PML-N wants to execute former President Pervez Musharraf, then case against General Zia-ul-Haq should also be lodged to make the history in order.
Pervaiz Khan Advocate of ANP regretted that it was promised that the concurrent list would be transferred to provinces but no progress has been seen in this regard so far. He urged the government to provide maximum provincial autonomy and distribution of resources among the federating units on equitable basis keeping in view the ground realities.
He demanded early convening of National Finance Commission meeting to finalise NFC award and place more resources for provinces particularly Balochistan and NWFP. He proposed that the NFC award should be decided on the basis of poverty rather than population.
Abdul Qadir Khanzada of the MQM suggested the government to give at least 25 percent increase in the salaries of government servants saying that the present increase is not enough in accordance with the current inflation rate.
He also called upon the government to withdraw carbon surcharge on petroleum products as its implementation would lead to further price hike and increase difficulties of the common man. Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti in his speech paid rich tributes to President Asif Ali Zardari for his reconciliatory efforts and strengthening democracy that led to stability of the country.
Khurram Dastaghir of PML-N criticised the budget, saying that it dashed all the hopes of the masses. The 2 percent growth rate reflects the poor policies of the government, he added. Khurram expressed concern over 23 percent increase in public debt during last one month. He said that certain government departments sought supplementary demands and spent them on the extravagances.
Yasmin Rahman of PPP defended the government policy to receive loan from international organisations, saying that such practice is common in every country and the funds are being spent on the development sector. Commenting on the recommendations given by the PML-N lawmakers, she said that it is better to initiate such policies from Punjab, where their party leads the provincial government.
Humayoon Saifullah of Pakistan Muslim League-Q said that 9 percent tax to GDP ratio is very low. Humayoon proposed to impose capital gain tax. Why the government is reluctant to impose capital gain tax on the shares and securities, he asked. He demanded of the government to immediately announced NFC award along with the payment of the dues of the provinces pending against the Federation under the NFC award.
Bushra Gohar of ANP proposed to cut the defence budget and spend it on the development. She further said that each and every figure of the defence budget should be discussed in the Parliament. She asked the government to end corruption from the government departments. Baloch MNA Changaiz Khan sought a bailout package for Balochistan keeping in view its backwardness. He also demanded of the government to immediately announce new NFC award and give due shares to the federating units.