ISLAMABAD: In the last Federal Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, the cabinet approved National Aviation Policy 2023.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif where he was presented a detailed performance report from 20-04-2022 to 08-08-2022 by the Secretary Cabinet.
In his last cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz said the leadership of all four provinces was included in the government, which helped taking critical decisions. “We have jointly worked to save the country by sacrificing the political future over national interest.”
Civil Aviation Bill, Air Safety Investigation Bill approved
He said that we should learn a lesson from 9th May so that such incidents must not happen again. He said that national unity is important and gaps between federal and provinces have to be reduced and the political seriousness which was shown in the last 15 months must continue in the future, as well.
He said that the SIFC is the best strategy for the country to take it ahead and for the first time in history of the last 75 years. He said in the SIFC all the federal and provincial governments, institutions and Chief of the Army Staff are working together for the welfare of the country. We are giving vision to the nation through this cabinet, he added.
He regretted that during the last 75 years, even very small countries have gone ahead of Pakistan and this is a moment of retrospection and for how long the country would be taking loans from friendly and brotherly countries, without whose support the country could not have revived the IMF programme.
The meeting was informed that in the last 15 months, 53 meetings of the cabinet were held. The federal cabinet made a total of 1,295 decisions and 99 per cent of the decisions were implemented.
The federal cabinet approved the draft of the National Music Policy presented by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The federal cabinet also approved the National Aviation Policy 2023 on the recommendation of the Ministry of Aviation.
Under this policy, steps have been taken to develop this sector in the country and improve the existing facilities for local and international passengers at the airports of Pakistan.
The federal cabinet approved the auction of all the valuable gifts received by the prime minister in the last 15 months on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a transparent manner. The money received from them will be donated to organisations working for the welfare of orphans and destitute children in Pakistan. The cabinet also decided that the public will be able to participate in the auction process.
The federal cabinet further approved the appointment of technical and non-technical members of the National Tariff Commission on the recommendation of the Ministry of Commerce. The cabinet approved the appointment of Abdul Rasheed Sheikh, Naeem Anwar, Muhammad Iqbal Tabish, Ahmed Shiraz as non-technical members and Imran Zia as technical members.
The federal cabinet approved the appointment of Salman S Mehdi as chairman of the Board of Directors in State Life Insurance Corporation on the recommendation of the Ministry of Commerce.
The cabinet approved the appointment of Salimullah as deputy governor State Bank on the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance.
The federal cabinet approved the draft of the National Music Policy presented by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Under the policy, for the first time in the history of the country, the application of a legal framework and modern technological resources will be used to protect the musical heritage of Pakistan, promote contemporary music and prevent the theft of musicians’ work.
After detailed consultation on the summary of the appointment of managing director/ chief executive officer (CEO) of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on the recommendation of the Ministry of Petroleum, the federal cabinet decided that the appointment will be re-advertised.
The federal cabinet approved the inclusion of members in various committees of the Special Investment Council on the recommendation of the Investment Board.
According to these amendments, the Federal Minister of Law and Justice will be the member of the Apex Committee, the Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting will be the member of the Apex Committee and the Executive Committee and the Foreign Secretary will be the members of the Executive Committee and the Implementation Committee.
In addition, the Cabinet approved the appointment of Dr Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan as the secretary Apex Committee, SIFC.
Furthermore, the federal cabinet also approved the establishment of the Special Investment Facility Secretariat and Jameel Ahmed Qureshi as the secretary/ principal accounting officer.
The federal cabinet approved the appointment of Arshad Saleem Khattak as chief executive officer of Railway State Development and Marketing Company on the recommendation of the Railway Division.
The federal cabinet on August 14 also approved the doubling of the concession in the sentences of prisoners in various jails of Pakistan and directed that this concession will be applicable to all prisoners as per the law. The cabinet directed the Home Ministry to provide better facilities for the prisoners in the jails.
The federal cabinet approved the amendments in the solar policy on the recommendation of the Power Division. After implementation of these amendments, solarisation of government buildings and speedy implementation of 10,000-MW solarisation plan of the government will be ensured.
Two books were presented to the cabinet by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on government performance and Prime Minister’s 488-day premiership.
The federal cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy held on August 7, 2023.
The federal cabinet approved the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee in the meetings held on July 26, August 7 and August 8, 2023.
The Federal Cabinet approved the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions held on 3 August 2023.
The Federal Cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation held on August 7, 2023.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked the members for their cooperation and support. “I am thankful to every cabinet colleague for their advice, and input, which helped me personally to serve the country in the best possible way. I wish them well”.
However, in a tweet, Shehbaz Sharif posted a photograph and abundantly thanked his colleague who assisted him throughout the challenges the PDM has faced in the past 16 months. “The last 16 months was a time of immense challenges, unforeseen in our history. The coming together of Pakistan’s political forces for a national agenda represents evolution of our democratic system,” he said.
“Given the seriousness of plethora of the crises from the unprecedented floods to saving the country from default to rebuilding Pakistan’s diplomatic relations to fixing governance challenges, we used collective wisdom to navigate the treacherous landscape”, he further added.
Thanking Allah, the Almighty, he said, “Pakistan in August 2023 is better off than it was in April 2022”.
“Our long-term challenges still remain but the way forward has clearly been identified and actions initiated in that direction”, he maintained.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023