National Assembly was informed on Friday that the income generated from shrines situated at Noorpur Shahan for the year 2005 from January to December is Rs 21,221,918.
Minister for Parliament Affairs Sher Afgan Khan Niazi on behalf of the Minister for Religious Affairs, Zakat and Ushr, Muhammad Ijazul Haq, who was absent from the National Assembly question hour, replied to Maulana Abdul Malik on his question of number of shrines under the administration of Auqaf and the annual and monthly income received by the government and the spending on account of various heads.
The Minister stated that income from cash boxes Darbar Hazrat Bari Imam, Shah Hussain, Nanga Baba is Rs 16,856,950, whereas from Mehmood Badsha, it is Rs 843,525 and that of Dervesh Badshah Rs 600,000 (through contract). Moreover, the income from auction of contract at the shrine of Bari Imam is Rs 2,921,443.
He further stated that expenses include salaries of staff, utility bills and Urs arrangements, which he said are huge.
When Sher Afgan was explaining the huge expenses on a supplementary question of Abdul Malik and trying to defend the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain intervened and said that he has visited Bari Imam shrine and found its guestroom in a very bad shape. He instructed Sher Afgan to look into the matter.
Responding to a question from Dr Farida Ahmed, Minister from Housing and Works Syed Safwanullah said, there is Rs 297.67 million deposited with National Highway Authority Joint Venture (NHA-JV) for Islamabad New City Housing Project, and the amount was received through cheques/drafts/cash. He further said that no amount is remitted abroad.
To another question from Bughio, Minister for Housing and Works informed that there are 23 unauthorised occupants in Sector I-8/1 and I-9/4, Islamabad. Most of the occupants are high-ranking officials of federal government. Most of the cases are in the court, he added.