ISLAMABAD: The lawmakers belonging to both Treasury and Opposition in the National Assembly on Saturday lambasted the government for massive hike in petroleum products at a time when people are suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The debate on demand for grants was dominated by POL price hike with the lawmakers terming the step "unprecedented, shameful, cruel, and an attempt to please the oil mafia".

However, the Minister for Power and Petroleum Omar Ayub Khan had nothing to say except boasting that petroleum product prices were still cheaper in the country compared to the subcontinent and other South Asian countries by a wide margin despite the recent increase.

Responding to various points raised by MPs from both Treasury and Opposition pertaining to oil price increase, he said: "In January, the petrol was Rs116.60 per liter and diesel was Rs127.26 per liter, and then it was reduced by Rs42 per liter and diesel by Rs47 per liter on January 1".

The minister for power and petroleum went on to say that now the price of petrol was increased by Rs25 per liter, but it was still Rs17 a liter cheaper compared to the price of petrol in January.

He said price of diesel was increased by Rs21 a liter but was still Rs26 a liter cheaper than what it was in January, adding that the international price of oil had risen sharply in the last one month due to which the rupee had also weakened.

The minister said that the price of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of petroleum products increased by 46 percent last month, adding that the government passed on the benefit of reduction in international oil prices to the people.

He said that the government would move forward as per the fluctuation in the international oil market. He said that petrol prices were higher in Bangladesh, India, China and in some other countries of the region than what the price was in Pakistan even after the price revision.

Omar Ayub Khan said that the government had improved power transmission system which now had a capacity of more than 26,000MW. He said that load-shedding had been eliminated and currently it was being carried out only in feeders where losses were high.

He said our focus was now on bringing improvement to the distribution and transmission system. "We are pursuing clean and green projects in the energy sector," he added.

The minister alleged that the previous government had established expensive power plants, adding that the incumbent government was working to improve the energy mix.

Pakistan was a net importer of petroleum products, he said adding that the government inherited high current account and fiscal deficits.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan himself had asked for an investigation into the sugar crisis and directed for action against those responsible.

Regarding the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said the issue was mishandled by the previous government of the PML-N, but the present government had met a majority of the FATF conditions.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N MNA Rana Sanaullah accused the government of being hand in glove with the oil mafia, adding that the oil mafia blackmailed the government, which was reflective in the unprecedented increase ion POL prices.

"The [petroleum] mafia is present within the government, and it convinced the rulers to take such a decision, leaving the people with no option but to live at the mercy of the mafias," he regretted. Another PML-N MNA Khurram Dastgir Khan said that in the history of the country, petrol prices were never increased by 34%, adding that the government was becoming a facilitator of mafias.

"I rather we all can sense that the government benches are in a state of 'fear and shock' to see what the government did on the dictations of the petrol mafia," he maintained.

He said that the culprits of the Sahiwal incident, in which members of a family were murdered in cold blood, did not receive any punishment which showed how the state was functioning.

Speaking on the issue of the sugar crisis, he said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that the prices of sugar rose after permission for exports was granted.

PPP MNA Abdul Qadir Patel said that the FIA should investigate who hoarded petrol reserves, which exacerbated the national fuel crisis.

"The FIA should investigate who is behind this mafia and who is getting a cut out of it," he said.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Raja Riaz bashed his own party's government over hike in prices of petroleum products and non-issuance of development funds.

Raja Riaz startled the treasury benches by staging a protest in the parliament against PTI policies and expressed his anger over sudden surge in fuel prices by Rs25 a liter.

"I've become an MNA by winning an election but am not receiving any development fund despite being a member of the government. God knows who are being granted funds," he added.

DEMANDS FOR GRANTS

The National Assembly approved 10 demands for grants of Interior Division worth Rs172,479,640,000 by rejecting all cut motions on them.

The cut motions were moved on eight demands for grants by the opposition lawmakers but all were rejected on them.

The demands for grants were moved by the Minister for Industries and Production and all were passed by the House after voice voting.

The House approved demands for grants worth Rs1,135,194,000 of Interior Division to meet expenditure during financial year ending on June 30, 2021, Rs5,854,041,000 in respect of other expenditure of Interior Division, Rs5,029,235,000 in respect of miscellaneous expenditure of Interior Division, Rs9,933,189,000 in respect of Islamabad, Rs2,964,943,000 in respect of passport organization, Rs93,282,260,000 in respect of civil armed forces, Rs11,311,962,000 for Frontier Constabulary, Rs2,299,879,000 in respect of Pakistan Coast Guards, Rs25,947,624,000 in respect of Pakistan Rangers and Rs14,721,313,000 for development expenditures of Interior Division.

The parliamentary secretary for interior, Shaukat Ali, responded to the queries raised by the opposition during their speeches on cut motions. Later the House passed all the demands for grants and rejected the cut motions moved by the opposition members.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that the government had fully embarked on the agenda of observing austerity across all government institutions and departments.

He said the Prime Minister's Office saved 29 percent of its budget during the year 2019-20 as an amount of Rs137 million out of total allocation of Rs474 million had been returned.

Similarly, he said: "In 2018-19, Rs454 million were allocated for Prime Minister's House, out of which only Rs304 million were utilized during the year".

With respect to expenditures at the Prime Minister's House, the minister of state said that the expenditures were brought down from Rs1.4 billion to Rs670 million.

He said the number of employees which was 522 had been reduced by half while the number of vehicles was also brought down from 74 to 46, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan lived in his own house in Bani Gala and unlike in the past there was no camp office of the Prime Minister.

He said that the former prime minister had declared his house at Raiwind as a camp house where all types of expenditures were paid for from the state exchequer.

Giving details of expenditures incurred during visits of the heads of state to the United Nations annual meetings, Ali Muhammad Khan said US$1.3 million were spent during the visit of former president Asif Ali Zardari to the UN, while $1.1 million were spent during the visit of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif. Similarly, he said during the visit of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, an amount of $500,000 was spent while Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit incurred only $162,000 to the national exchequer.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020