The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that the Karachi Circular Railway, a defunct regional public transit system in the port city of Karachi, will be made operational in six months in collaboration with the Sindh provincial government. Responding to a question during question-our in the National Assembly, Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that Pakistan Railways was making all out efforts to complete the Karachi Circular Railway as the Supreme Court of Pakistan had directed completion of the project within six months.
"The 42 kilometers Karachi Circular Railway land was illegally occupied and difficult to vacate as the people who had built their houses on the land were not willing to relocate," he added.
Ahmed said that the government would not demolish any legal house in Karachi in the name of anti-encroachment drive. Besides Karachi Circular Railway, he added, another entity Karachi Urban Transport Company (KUTC) also existed with the 60 percent shares of the federal government and 40 percent shares of the Sindh government.
He said the federal government was willing to give its 60 percent share to the Sindh government to run the project on a priority basis but the Supreme Court refused the proposal of the federal government with the directions to make KCR functional.
"We do not have money to pay pensions," said Rasheed, adding, despite the fact the federal government with the support of the Sindh government would complete the project as the ministry was ready to give its land to the Sindh government for the project.
Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi said that the government had agreed to regularise illegal jetties located in Ibrahim Haidri. He said that the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) as a port authority imposed no charges on residents of the coastal area to commute in or out to sea or traveling between different islands.
Responding to a question, Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noorul Haq Qadri rejected the impression that his ministry received interest on Hajj dues submitted by intending pilgrims in various banks. He said the amount of Hajj dues was kept in Islamic banking or interest-free accounts and there was no question of receiving interest.
The minister said the process for hiring of accommodation, food, transport and allied services started immediately after conclusion of previous Hajj operation, advance payments had to be made to the owners as contractual obligations. Answering a question, Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services Dr Nousheen Hamid said that complete screening of passengers landing at airports was being ensured to check coronavirus.
She said the staff engaged in the screening, had been provided with complete protective gear. Hamid said regular surveillance of drug sale outlets was done to ensure detection of any fake or un-registered medicines. She said a raid was conducted on a house in Islamabad and 93 different medicines including vitamins, herbal and homeo stocked there by Shaheen pharmacy were recovered.
Hamid said that out of the recovered medicines, around 50 different medicines were not enlisted by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan. She said that other major pharmacies operating in Islamabad were also inspected but no fake or un-registered medicines were recovered from them.
State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that the government intended to increase Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) pension to Rs 15,000.
Responding to a calling attention notice regarding non-increase in the pension of the EOBI beneficiaries as announced by the advisor to prime minister for overseas Pakistanis in December 2019, he said that the government had increased the EOBI pension from Rs 6,500 to Rs 8,500.
The minister informed the House that people would get interest-free loans for the construction of homes under the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority (NPHA). Responding to calling attention notice regarding privatization of House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) despite its efficient performance, he said the HBFC earned profit after the injection of Rs 16.9 billion equity by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) keeping in view its poor financial condition.
As SBP's debt amounting to Rs 16.9 billion was converted into equity in the HBFC, he added, the shareholding of the government in the housing finance company changed from 62.5 percent to 9.69 percent, and the central bank became a major shareholder with 90.31 percent stake.
"Before injecting the equity from the SBP, the HBFC was running losses...the bank was also in the privatization list," he added. Meanwhile, the House offered fateha for the PAF pilot who was martyred when his plane crashed during rehearsal for Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad this morning.
The government also introduced the following bills in NA. The Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2020, the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2020 and the Motion Pictures Ordinance (Amendment) Act, 2020. The House will now meet again on Friday at 10:30am.
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