ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet, on Monday, approved the withdrawal of privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation from the privatisation programme.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Privatisation, the cabinet also approved the withdrawal of privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation from the privatisation programme. In this regard, the cabinet directed the Ministry of Industry and Production to suggest future course of action.
Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi along with caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, Caretaker Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan, Caretaker Minister National Heritage Jamal Shah, and others, briefed the media about the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.
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While talking about illegal residents, Solangi said the phased return of illegal residents will be ensured.
The caretaker federal minister of information said that the federal cabinet has approved the Repatriation Order under Sections 3 and 14B of the Foreigners Act, 1946 on the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior to send back to their respective homelands, the foreigners residing illegally across the country.
In this regard, the prime minister has given special instructions that the phase of evacuation of foreigners should be carried out in an honourable manner. During this time, special care should be taken of women and children. He said that the prime minister has strictly instructed that no institution of the state should exceed its authority in this phase.
He said that the prime minister has directed to prepare a database of the people who are being sent back to their homeland under this Repatriation Order and to devise a special system to monitor this process.
The caretaker federal minister of information said that the prime minister approved to present a work plan in this regard, under which the phased return of illegal residents will be ensured. He said that the illegal residents who are being sent back can return at any time legally.
The caretaker federal minister of information said that the federal cabinet approved the status of 10 immigration check posts of the Federal Investigation Agency as police stations on the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior and to notify these check posts as police stations in the Passport Rules, 2021. These 10 check posts are located on the borders of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces with Afghanistan and Iran.
The caretaker federal minister of information said that the federal cabinet has approved the Hajj Policy 2024 on the recommendation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony. In Hajj 2024, 179,210 people will be able to perform Hajj duties under the quota allocated for Pakistan. Under Hajj Policy 2024, the quota has been divided equally between public and private schemes.
He said that under the private Hajj scheme, 25,000 pilgrims will be able to perform Hajj under the Hajj sponsorship scheme.
He said that for the convenience of the pilgrims, a Hajj package of 20 to 25 days will also be introduced, the cost of which will be determined later, while the Hajj package of 38 to 42 days will be Rs1.065 million for the southern region and Rs1.075 million has been fixed for the northern region.
He said that this package is 100,000 rupees less than last year. He said that the facility of the Road to Makkah project for Hajj 2024 will be available at Islamabad Airport, and it will also be available at the international airports of Karachi and Lahore.
He said that on the recommendation of the Ministry of Aviation, the federal cabinet approved the operations of Fly Jinnah on international routes. After this approval, Fly Jinnah will fly to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. It will be able to carry out flight operations in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
He said that on the recommendation of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, the federal cabinet approved the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs of Pakistan to increase imports and exports in the field of industrial goods and services.
He said that the federal cabinet has approved exemption from Rule No (1) 13 and 35 of Public Procurement Rules, 2004, to Pakistan LNG Limited from January 2024 to June 2024 for procurement of LNG from the spot market.
He said that on the recommendation of the Cabinet Division, the federal cabinet approved Sui Southern Gas Limited to acquire 20,000 metric tons of spot LPG cargo from November 2023 to March 2024 under Rule 9, 13, 35, and 40 of Public Procurement Rules 2004.
He said that the cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Affairs on October 6, 2023 and October 27, 2023.
The cabinet reviewed the decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) dated October 23, 2023 and directed that the revision of prices related to natural gas be re-examined.
The cabinet directed that the ECC should hold a meeting in this regard today and get the Cabinet to confirm its decisions.
In response to a question, the caretaker federal information minister said that matters regarding PIA have progressed and the situation will improve in a few days.
To another question, he said that the illegal residents would be sent to their country from the nearest point of the holding centre. He said that we are not a political government and neither do we have any political agenda. Political parties have been established here for many decades, they also communicate with each other.
He said that the Election Commission is in touch with all the political parties, if any political party’s leader wants to meet the government, they will respect their wish.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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