Rs 15 billion recovered from NIC; Hajj scam involves 1.6 million riyal: National Assembly told

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday told the National Assembly that an amount of Rs 1.5 billion has been recovered following exposure of corruption in the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), saying that misappropriation of SR1.6 million (Saudi riyal) has been detected in Hajj arrangements and those involved in the scam would be taken to task.
Responding to a point of order by the Leader of Opposition Nisar Ali Khan, he said that the government was committed to root out corruption from the society and, on the directive of the Prime Minister, anti-corruption drive has been launched. He said that progress report in this regard would be presented in the House next week.
He informed the House that Rs 1.4 billion had been recovered from the NIC in the anti-corruption drive, while investigation into the Hajj scam was underway where misappropriation of SR1.6 million had been uncovered against former Director, Hajj, Hajj Rao Shakeel, who is under arrest. The Minister appealed to the House to develop consensus on the proposed Accountability Bill to eliminate corruption from society.
Responding to the objection of the Leader of the Opposition regarding foreign dictation allegedly being followed by the government, he said that it was unfortunate that "foreign diplomats who move freely in the country and meet our political leaders without the permission of the Foreign Office hampers our sovereignty".
Rehman said that both the government functionaries and the opposition leaders should avoid meeting foreign diplomats, and urged the House to formulate rules to stop foreign diplomats meetings with leaders without prior permission of the Foreign Office. "Let us decide from today not to meet foreign diplomats without prior permission of the Foreign Office. I am ready to implement it", he said, adding that the rulers do not allow any diplomat to visit Lahore or Karachi without prior permission of the Foreign Office and Interior Ministry.
He has said that the government was following the policy of political reconciliation and was determined not to victimise any political force. But, he added that it was unfortunate that some media houses were involved in planned campaign against the President and the Prime Minister which should be stopped forthwith. He also urged the House to formulate rules to ensure protection, dignity and respect of each member of the parliament.
He described the recent survey of Transparency International as substandard, saying that the findings were mostly based on the electronic media reports, and 34.5 percent information was taken from a 'single' news channel out of which 98 percent was based on lies. He said that such surveys give bad name to the country and discourage foreign investment. About torture of a journalist, he said that a report of the judicial commission has been received by the ministry and it would be tabled in the House, after having been examined thoroughly.