The National Assembly was informed on Monday that the payables as on June 30, 2018 were Rs544 billion, whereas loans of Power Holding Company (PHC) stood at Rs583.4 billion, and the payables as on December 01, 2019 were Rs 981 billion, whereas loans of Power Holding Company stood at Rs804.163 billion.
In a written reply, the Minister for Power, Omar Ayub Khan, said: "From March 1, 2018, the total payable circular amount was Rs594,359 million, whereas loan of Power Holding Limited was Rs437.713 million and from December 01, 2019, the payables were Rs981 billion, whereas loans of Power Holding was Rs804.163 billion".
He said that there were a number of reasons attributed to this buildup mainly due to the delay in capacity charges notification, tariff rationalization, and release of subsidy from the Finance division.
However, Omar Ayub said that it was anticipated that the same would be reduced with the passage of time in pursuance of strict financial discipline and a number of reforms introduced in the power sector by the current government.
At present, the flow has dropped to Rs10-15 billions per month in comparison to Rs 30 billion in fiscal year 2017-2018, he added.
To a question about the increase in total circular debt since June 2018, the minister said that the circular debt was being managed.
The National Assembly members on Monday offered fateha for Colonel Mujeebur Rehman who embraced shahadat during an intelligence-based operation in Dera Ismail Khan, and for late former Mayor Karachi Naimatullah Khan.
On the request of Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Maulana Akber Chitrali led the fateha.
The House prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed souls in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved families to bear the loss with equanimity.
Responding to a question, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said that the government was committed to ensuring protection and promotion of human rights with special focus on the rights of women and girls.
She said that a toll free Helpline 1099 for legal advice on human rights violations had been established to facilitate the women's access to justice under certain laws.
She said that trained lawyers had been deputed to respond to all such cases online and free of cost.
Parliamentary Secretary on Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas, responding to a question, said the government had decided to establish Pakistan missions in Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda and Djibouti in pursuance of its policy of "Look Africa" and strategic engagements with African countries to enhance exports to the continent.
The House was also informed that there were a total of 6,738 Pakistanis who were currently imprisoned in Gulf countries.
Omar Ayub said that that there were only two weeks of foreign exchange reserves left when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government took over. Responding to a question regarding fuel prices, he said fuel price adjustment during PML-N government was negative, as sales tax and Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) was 45 percent but they did not pass on the relief to masses.
He said that PTI government besides maintaining the fuel price after its decrease on international level passed on the relief of Rs5 to masses. He said the former finance minister spent Rs24 billion to artificially maintain the value of US dollar which later caused devaluation of rupee.
He said the government was gradually decreasing its reliance on Residual Fuel Oil (RFO) and searching for alternate energy means to provide maximum relief to masses in future.
To another question, he said during winter, gas consumption by domestic sector increase manifolds.
"Gas consumption by domestic sector on SNGPL network during July 2019 was 408 MMCFD which increased to the level of 990 in December 2019 and crossed 1100 MMCFD during January 2020," he added.
On the other hand, only 950 MMCFD indigenous gas was currently being received by SNGPL which could not cater the winter demand of only domestic sector, he said.
The minister further responded that there was no addition of indigenous gas into company's network since last many years.
RESOLUTION The National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution condemning the attacks of Hindu extremists on peaceful protestors in India especially New Delhi against controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.
The resolution moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, condemned communal violence against Muslims.
It urged the Government of Pakistan to raise this matter in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the UN Security Council compelling India to ensure security of Muslims and other minorities, prevent human rights violations and take strict action against the culprits.
BILLS The House passed four bills, which include "The Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill, 2020", "The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020", "The Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020", and "The Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Bill, 2020".
The government also introduced five bills in the House including a legislative proposal to set up a university at Prime Minister's House.
All the bills were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan introduced the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Pakistan Health Research Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which were referred to the relevant committees.
Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry introduced the University of Engineering and Emerging Technology Bill, 2020 in the House, which was also referred to the relevant committee.
The minister said that this bill will pave way to establish a state-of-the-art University of Engineering and Emerging Technologies at the Prime Minister's House.
Minister for Interior Ijaz Ahmad Shah introduced the Islamabad Capital Territory Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation Bill, 2020 and the Pakistan Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which were also forwarded to the relevant committees for elaboration.
The opposition lawmakers demanded that those involved in removing Khatm-e-Nabuwat [finality of Prophet-hood (PBUH)] clause from Hajj form, should be taken to task.
But the Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noorul Haq strongly denied omitting the oath regarding finality of the Prophethood (PBUH)] from Hajj application form.
"If there had been involvement of any official, the government would not have spared him," he maintained.
LEAVE REQUEST
The NA Speaker Asad Qaiser approved leave request by opposition leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President, Shahbaz Sharif, in his leave application, pleaded NA speaker to grant him leave so as he can look after his ailing brother - ex-premier Nawaz Sharif - in London.
Earlier on March 8, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had said that he would raise the issue of Sharif's long time absence from parliament in the NA.
REPORT
The parliamentary secretary on finance, Zain Qureshi, laid before the National Assembly the Mid-Year Budget Review Report for Financial Year 2019-20 under sub-section (1) of section 34 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2019.
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