State Minister for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar informed National Assembly on Thursday that there are 159 Pakistanis detained in Malaysia, mainly on account of immigration related crimes.
He was replying to a question from Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali during the question hour. He said our mission provides access to the detainees. It also tries to confirm antecedents and provides legal aid if necessary. Regular meetings with the immigration authorities are held to seek their help and support in securing the release of Pakistanis detained in the immigration camps.
Responding to another question from MNA Begum Ishrat Ashraf, he said 10 percent fee collected from activities like Nikkah Nama, visas etc is spent on various welfare services provided to Pakistanis abroad, which include facilitating them in case of death, immigration matters, fighting their detention case. Moreover, it includes expenditures on providing education to overseas workers.
He said these accounts are audited by Auditor General of Pakistan. He said in countries where Pakistanis are less than 50,000, an amount of $3,000 is allocated and where the number surpasses 50,000, the allocated amount is $5,000 for their welfare. However, the surplus amount is transferable from one country to another according to the need.
In a supplementary question, the minister replied that airlines are now held responsible, as they are not allowed to issue ticket to a person without having visa. They are penalised and fined in case of illegal immigration.
Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told the Assembly in a written reply that reservations on phone and door to door delivery of tickets is likely to be started this month (September) by PRACS Ltd. The tentative charges for ticket delivery service would be Rs 25 he added. He was replying to a question from MNA Samia Raheel Qazi, who had asked if there was any proposal of railway booking on telephone and home delivery system.
To another question from MNA Fauzia Wahab, inquiring about any proposals for introducing circular trains in the country, if so, the cost of the project and when it would be implemented, the minister said in his written answer that there are proposals to introduce circular trains in eight major cities: Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan and Hyderabad-Kotri. The proposals are with the Planning Commission, he added.
He said that the cost of the project would be ascertained after completion of feasibility study. Prime Minister on August 24, 2006, has approved the establishment of Mass Transit Authority under Ministry of Railways to expedite the issue, he added.
In order to disseminate the concept of family planning, the Ministry of Population Welfare in collaboration with Provincial Governments started the Programme for orientation of Imams/Khateebs on Population Development during 2005-06. Minister for Population Welfare Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain informed the House in a written reply to a question posed by Saima Raheel Qazi.
He said that two-day orientation to 3810 Ulema including 355 female scholars and three-day training of trainers to 276 Imams were provided. Next year 22,566 Imams /Khateebs/Female scholars would be given orientation, he added.