NCA repatriated $250 million, NA told

The National Assembly was informed on Friday that National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom repatriated $250 million to Pakistan with the help of its Assets Recovery Unit (ARU). Responding to PML-N MNA Marriyum Aurangzeb in the National Assembly during question hour, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that NCA works on cases of corruption and the transfer of money to Pakistan is just "a tip of the iceberg".

He said Opposition should ask questions from their leaders like Shehbaz Sharif about the allegations of corruption against them before giving any "sweeping" statement.

He asked Khurram Dastgir Khan of PML-N to put a fresh question when he sought a confirmation from him whether $250 million sent to Pakistan was transferred to the account of Supreme Court or not.

In a written reply, the government informed the House that during financial year 2018-2109, an amount of Rs 15.338 million had been incurred, out of the budget of Assets Recovery Unit.

During financial year 2019-20, an amount of Rs 8.282 million had been incurred up to October 2019 as per reconciled figures of the Assets Recovery Unit with Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR), he added. These expenses include salaries of Asset Recovery Unit officers and staff.

He said the federal cabinet in its meeting held on September 5, 2018 approved the establishment of Assets Recovery Unit under the chairmanship of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shehzad Akbar with representation from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and private sector for recovery of unlawful assets abroad.

Assets Recovery Unit, being a coordinating unit, provides a forum to law enforcement agencies and relevant institutions to trace and detect new cases and fast-track all existing cases targeting eventual repatriation of unlawfully acquired offshore assets, he added.

The aforementioned agencies and organizations eventually recover the amount, either through taxation or plea bargain or direct recovery, and repatriate it to the government exchequer as the case may be. The details are available with the agencies and organizations.

It was informed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the authority who had approved foreign visits out of the budget of the recovery unit. Local visits of officers of the unit were approved by the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability.

The Auditor General of Pakistan, being the constitutional authority, had decided to conduct the audit of the Assets Recovery Unit. So, audit, planning and execution rested with the Auditor General.

The state minister for parliamentary affairs also said that a government would ensure implementation on two percent job quota for disabled persons in each department for provision of maximum facilities to them in every field. He stated this while responding to a Calling Attention Notice in National Assembly regarding non-implementation of law relating to people with disabilities in letter and spirit.

The minister said that special initiatives had been taken for special persons in `Ehsaas Program' while priority was given to create more facilities for special persons under the Islamabad Master Plan.

He said that offices of Human Rights Department in provincial capitals and Islamabad would be declared `friendly' for persons with disabilities.

The minister said the government has introduced the ICT Right of Persons with Disability Bill, 2018 which was pending with Standing Committee on Human Rights. After deliberations in the committee, the bill would be passed by the National Assembly and it would be an effective legislation for the rights of disabled persons.

The minister said the government has taken National Poverty Graduation Initiative (NPGI), which is a part of Ehsaas strategy. He said the policy is aimed at graduating the poorest households out of poverty and setting them on a path of economic and social prosperity.

Khan said there are three components of the initiative with asset transfer, interest-free loans, and vocational and skills training to make assets productive.

He said the graduation initiative is aimed at reducing dependence of the population at the bottom of the economic pyramid on government-led social safety nets (BISP and Bait-ul-Mal program, etc) and help bring this population into the mainstream of economic development and financial inclusion.

He said the government, in addition to its own funding, is partnering with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), adding that the total cost of the initiative is Rs 42.65 billion.

The minister informed the National Assembly that the initiative will be executed by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and BISP. He said the initiative will be rolled out in over 100 districts and will impact 16.28 million people with 50 percent women, adding the initiative also included youth, persons with disabilities, transgender community, minorities and marginalized communities in the less developed districts.

The minister said the selection of the beneficiaries will be based on the poverty scorecard, used by the government and donors.

The house was informed that no new library has been set up in capital during the last five years due to shortage of funds.

The Department of Libraries, however, has completed maintenance work of G-7 and G-11 community libraries and these are now fully functional. About 400 to 600 people use the services of National Library on a daily basis and library remains open from morning till evening during all seven days of the week.

Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood informed the house that public sector universities are facing difficulties due to shortage of funds.

He said that at the time of preparation of the federal budget 2019-20, the HEC submitted an overall requirement of Rs 103.55 billion jointly estimated with Finance Division under recurring grant for all universities and ongoing research activities.

He said a total of Rs 88.147 billion (recurring: Rs 59.100 billion + Development: Rs 29.047 billion) could finally be allocated to HEC for FY 2019-20. Accordingly, all universities were provided lesser funding out of total recurring grant allocated to the HEC.

He apprised the house that HEC has reworked out minimum additional funding requirement of universities to assuage them from financial difficulties during the current year 2019-20.

The minister said a 'summary to cabinet' has been sent by the HEC through the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, requesting the federal government to provide Rs 21.38 billion as a supplementary grant during the ongoing FY 2019-20.

In addition, he said all universities have also been requested to approach respective provincial governments for enhanced contribution in universities' recurring budgets for the year and undertake optimal financial controlling and management.

The house was told that PTV has become an earning institution from a loss-making institution as the state TV has earned a profit Rs 350 million during the last fiscal year.

In a written reply, the Ministry for Religious Affairs said that in 2018, 374,857 people had submitted Hajj applications and the amount submitted was over Rs 106.41 billion.

The ministry said that Rs 1.21 billion profit was earned during the last five years, and the amount against the rejected applications in the balloting was returned.

The house was told that the total book value of Pakistan International Airlines' own domestic and international fixed assets is Rs 78.30 billion. There is no PIA guesthouse at domestic and international station.