ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat expressed serious reservations over two PSDP budgetary proposals of the Cabinet Division about construction of Aiwan-e-Sayahaat in Islamabad and block financial proposal for SDGs Achievement Programme and invited Minister for Defence in capacity of chairman SDGs Steering Committee and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Tourism in capacity of chairman PTDC in the next meeting to justify PSDP demands(proposals).
The committee was of the view that it cannot simply recommend huge financial proposals without getting proper justification by the concerned quarters. The committee met with MNA Kishwer Zehra in the chair at the Parliament House on Wednesday.
The committee was apprised that the Cabinet Division had demanded allocation under PSDP for the year 2022-23 amounting to Rs1,500 million for construction of Aiwan-e-Sayahaat in Islamabad partly through PSDP allocation and partly through public-private partnership basis.
The committee was further apprised that the building would house PTDC Headquarters besides offices of different tourism facilitators and promoters. The committee was not convinced by the contentions of the PTDC management and viewed that in present digital age, bricks and mortar will not promote tourism in the country. The committee suggested that instead of building this huge infrastructure, a building smaller in size and by adopting latest techniques and an aggressive marketing strategy, tourism could be promoted abroad fetching in foreign exchange.
The committee also opined that approval of the prime minister being the minister for Cabinet Secretariat had also not been sought. The committee decided to invite Azam Jamil, Special Assistant to the PM in Tourism in its next meeting to discuss the PSDP proposal in question.
The committee while taking up PSDP proposal for SDGs Achievement Program, opined that Minister of Defence in capacity of chairman SDGs Steering Committee did not bother to attend the meeting despite, several invitations. The committee decided to discuss the same in its next meeting in the presence of the Minister for Defence.
The committee also directed the Cabinet Division to develop its indigenous monitoring and evaluation system instead of relying on provinces to report progress in the projects funded through SDGs Achievement Program. The committee also recommended that all the districts throughout the country should be treated at par, while releasing funds under the SDGs program. The Cabinet Division had submitted PSDP proposal of Rs4,600 million for SDGs Achievement Program during the year 2022-23.
The chairperson, while concluding the meeting said that being a Muslim, she solemnly believes that sovereignty belongs to almighty Allah and is exercised on earth through chosen representatives of the people. Thus, huge responsibility lies upon their shoulders for diligently protecting the rights of the people.
She said that the government functionaries were not taking Parliamentary business serious and were somewhat obstructing the Parliament to exercise its oversight on executive. She stressed that all the departments should answer the queries of the committee promptly otherwise, holding meeting was just sheer wastage of public money.
The meeting was attended by Ali Muhammad Khan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, MNAs, Tahir Sadiq, Uzma Riaz, Muhammad Hashim, Rasheed Ahmad Khan, Seema Mohiuddin Jameeli, Raza Rabani Khar, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Syed Mehmood Shah, Mohsin Dawar, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Division, and Senior officers of the concerned departments.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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