ISLAMABAD: The opposition political parties in the National Assembly on Monday said that despite passage of two years in office, Prime Minister Imran Khan's promises of prosperity, ending poverty, job creation, and good days, sound empty.

Taking part in a debate on Budget 2020-2021, they said, two consecutive quarters of falling growth, rising unemployment and growing concerns among businesses were enough to point that PM Khan's administration's economic approach was failing.

Hina Rabbani Khar, a former state minister for finance of Pakistan People's Party (PPP), accused the prime minister of being "grossly incompetent" during his two-year record in office.

"...you keep telling people that he's [Imran Khan] so handsome, he's so popular, he's so good, he won us 1992 world cup. Yes, he did. He's a great cricketer...we all believe that but honestly speaking, his two years as prime minister really doesn't give this country much to celebrate," she added.

Khar said that the PTI government was giving development funds to its own members but not those belonging to the opposition parties.

She was critical of the government for slashing the budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Khar claimed that unemployment had increased in the country, adding the government should increase the salaries of government employees. "The government has been saying that they were doing good work but it was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. They said they have allocated Rs50 billion for Utility Stores, and Rs150 billion for coronavirus funds but this is not true," she added.

Khar also accused the government of renaming social safety net programmes such as the Benazir Income Support Programme and other such initiatives taken by either the PPP or the PML-N governments, to "befool masses".

"You can't befool people by renaming the BISP. And terming 18th Amendment a biggest mistake, the prime minister is weakening the federation," she declared.

Barjees Tahir of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), emphasised the need for construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam, saying it was important for the future of the country.

He said that India should stop human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Tahir called for the resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

He questioned the government's failure in collecting taxes despite being in power for two years, adding PM Khan used to say no one gives tax to corrupt leaders, but now he was at the helm of affairs, and why people were reluctant to give tax. The Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs, Babar Awan, said that Pakistan had a principled stance on Kashmir dispute that its resolution lied in plebiscite under the umbrella of the United Nations.

He said that Narendra Modi was a usurper and his policies had put the regional peace at stake, adding the present government had effectively raised the Kashmir dispute at the international fora.

Andleeb Abbas of the PTI said that the government had made the highest allocations for education sector, adding health sector was also top-most priority of the government.

She said that the world institutions were hailing the improvements made by Pakistan in business sentiment and macroeconomic policymaking since the 2018 general elections.

Makhdoom Zain Qureshi of the PTI said that despite difficult times, the government enhanced allocations for social safety nets.

He said it was a fact that no new tax had been imposed in the budget, whilst current account deficit had been reduced by 73 percent.

Qureshi said remittances and tax collection also witnessed increase before the outbreak of Covid-19.

Dr Ibadullah Khan of the PML-N said that the budget envisages no relief for the poor people and employees.

He said salaries should be increased keeping in view the inflation.

Ali Nawaz Awan of the PTI said that the opposition parties should not do point scoring on Covid-19.

He said Pakistan could not afford a complete lockdown as it would affect the livelihoods of poor people.

Awan said the salaries of employees would be enhanced with improvement in the situation. Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP said that the tax collection had decreased under the PTI government.

Referring to a speech by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, where he rubbished the Imperial College London's report on Covid-19 deaths in Pakistan, saying we are not the "slaves of white policemen of the world", Patel questioned, "Today, his own party men were showing us reports of Bloomberg and other foreign organisations and they were taking pride in it because they'd perhaps praised the government, so why these double standards." Aslam Bhootani said that the government had presented a better budget in the current circumstances. He said implementation on the development schemes for Balochistan including Gwadar must be ensured. He said online classes should also be started for the students of Balochistan. Sajid Mehdi said the agriculture sector had been ignored in the budget.

He said the country could not be taken forward without supporting the agriculture sector.

Saleh Muhammad was appreciative of the steps taken by the government to provide cash assistance of 12,000 rupees each to the deserving families.

He said the salaries of employees should be enhanced by 10 percent.

Aliya Kamran voiced concerns over the rising cases of coronavirus in the country.

She said the budget envisages no measures to save the country from the impacts of the pandemic.

Raja Khurram Nawaz said the PTI government had presented the budget for the next fiscal year, keeping in view the problems of the poor people.

He said the nations stood by Prime Minister Imran Khan to rid the country of the coronavirus.

Khursheed Ahmad Junejo said the testing capacity for the coronavirus should be enhanced to determine the exact number of coronavirus patients in the country.

Rashid Shafiq said relaxation in lockdown was imperative to protect the livelihoods of poor segments of the society.

Meanwhile, the NA also passed a unanimous resolution recommending that wherever the name of holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is written "Khatamun Nabiyeen" (Prophet Muhammad SAW is the last of the prophets sent by Allah) would be written along with it.

The resolution was handed over to State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan by MNA Noorul Hassan Tanveer of the PML-N, who then presented it to the House.

Tanveer demanded that prophethood had attained finality after last Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and it was necessary to issue a decree making it mandatory to write Khatamun Nabiyeen, wherever the name of holy Prophet (PBUH) was written or read.

Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan informed National Assembly that a preliminary investigation report of Karachi plane crash incident will be presented in the House on June 24.