Cabinet decides to recover billions of rupees 'illegally spent' by ex-PMs, CMs: PM briefed about food security

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday vowed that the mafia, including profiteers and hoarders, responsible for inflation and price hike in the country would be taken to task. At the outset of Federal Cabinet's meeting, the prime minister said every possible step would be taken to provide relief to people, who were facing the brunt of inflation, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan told a press conference here.

Flanked by Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed, she said the committee constituted by the prime minister was probing the recent flour shortage and in the light of its findings, strict action would be taken against the elements involved in the crisis irrespective of their political affiliations.

The SAPM said Imran Khan also directed the Ministry of National Food Security and related organizations to take all measures to ensure smooth supply of edible items to the public.

The cabinet, she said, was briefed on the demand-supply gap of edibles items, including rice, wheat and corn and the situation of their stocks. The prime minister directed that all estimates of surplus crops should be monitored.

She said the Special Assistant to the PM on Health briefed the cabinet about the Coronavirus and challenges related to it. The prime minister, she said, issued the directives for provision of all possible help to Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan, China. The Foreign Office had set up an information desk for providing updates to their family members.

BR staff reporter adds: The cabinet expressed reservations over the replacement of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Kaleem Imam. The decision on Imam's replacement was delayed after the government's allies expressed their disapproval.

Awan said that the names were discussed in the meeting between the Prime Minister and the chief minister of Sindh and when the names were presented before the cabinet, some allies from interior Sindh and Karachi expressed reservations over them.

The Prime Minister directed the governor Sindh to hold consultations with provincial chief minister regarding the names put forth for the appointment of new IG Sindh.

She said the cabinet endorsed the decisions of its previous meeting. It gave approval to decision of reduction in urea rates to provide relief to farmers. The cabinet removed the GIDC which was Rs 395.

The federal cabinet also reviewed the current political and economic situation of the country, besides discussing the regulations for the issuance of arms licenses. An amendment to Pakistan Arms Act was recommended and approved by the members.

An amendment has been approved for ending powers of the President and Prime Minister for establishing camp offices. The matter will be tabled in the Parliament for legislation in this regard.

The recommendation for signing an agreement for the construction of 0.5 million houses by the federal government was also postponed. She said the cabinet members showed reservations on giving tender to a Chinese company and the Prime Minister asked for bringing more clarity in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the Chinese company.

The cabinet green-lighted the decisions of the Federal Cabinet Committee on Energy and approved the appointment of Noor-ul-Haq, Member Finance OGRA, as Vice-Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. The summary on establishment of National Commission for Child Rights was deferred.

The cabinet referred the issue of import of para-xylene from India to the Commerce Ministry. A Korean company, which was working in Pakistan and importing para-xylene from India, was not allowed to get 40,000 metric tons of the aromatic hydrocarbon from India since Pakistan stopped trade of any kind from India from August 2019.

She said the cabinet empowered secretary information technology to notify appropriate government under the section 27A of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996.

The federal cabinet also approved Aslam Khan's nomination as private member on PIA Corporation Limited Board. The federal cabinet also approved posting of Naveed Elahi and Rana Shakeel Asghar as Member Estate and Financial Advisor of Capital Development Authority, respectively.

She said the cabinet was told that during the financial year 2019-20, current deficit has been reduced to 73% and from July to December the current deficit was Rs 2.2 billion. The trade balance in terms of goods improved by 39%, export increased by 4.5% while the imports decreased by 21%.

Remittances improved by 3.3 percent whereas Forex reserves increased by 31%, she further said. She added that foreign direct investment improved by 68%. Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said the federal cabinet decided to recover money of undue expenditures from former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari within a month. He said if they fail to submit the amount to the government, legal action will be taken against them.

He said the previous governments burdened the country with huge debt as they plundered national wealth. He said a loan of Rs 24,000 billion was taken during the tenures of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari.

He said national institutions were pledged to take loans. Murad Saeed said the Sharif Brothers had established five camp offices apart from CM Office while former president Asif Ali Zardari had three camp offices. The family installed barbed wire around their residence at a cost of Rs 270 million from national exchequer. He said 2,753 police personnel were dedicated for the security of the Sharif family.

The federal cabinet amended the rules related to salaries, perks and privileges of the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. According to the amended rules, the president and PM are now entitled to only one official residence and hence the expenditures of their camp offices in different cities may not be spent form public exchequer. The cabinet also directed the relevant sections to examine the pays and perks of the President and Prime Minister.

The cabinet also decided that from now onwards there will be no facility of provision of duty free cars to any public office holder including the President and Prime Minister, he said.

Replying to a question, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman was used as a "tissue paper" and thrown away, adding, "The elder and younger brothers (Sharif brothers) are busy playing a game of fooling the gullible Maulana."

Responding to another question, she said the KPK ministers who have been removed were not involved in any kind of corruption; however, there were some reservations. She also stated that the recent tussle among party members in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been resolved and the ministers of KP are now standing behind their captain. She also said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government is firmly standing behind Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar.

Earlier in the day, Firdous Ashiq Awan, in her Twitter messages, said the recent tweets of the Afghanistan president regarding arrest of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement chief Manzoor Pashteen are tantamount to interference in Pakistan's internal affairs and Ashraf Ghani should not violate the international law.

She said Pakistan is promoting peace and stability in the region and the country has also always exhibited desire to carry out joint efforts for peace establishment along with its neighbor Afghanistan.

Awan added the Pakistani nation and its brave armed forces rendered sacrifices for establishment of peace and miscreants could not be allowed for anti-peace activities across the country. She said the law will find its way against miscreants. Awan requested the TV channels to allocate one hour daily to highlight Indian atrocities in Indian-occupied Kashmir.