ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development, Thursday, grilled the Ministry of Planning for not including population growth subject in the 13th five-year plan 2024-29.
The standing committee meeting was held here under the chairpersonship of Senator Quratul Ain Marri and deliberated on the socio-economic objectives of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2024-29).
Senator Marri was astonished by the briefing of the Planning Division’s Joint Chief of Economic Policy, Zafarul Hassan, and said that the Planning Division should focus on the biggest of all challenges which is “Population Control” and it is not even mentioned in the list.
She stated that no country could achieve sustainable development with a population growth rate of 2.5 per cent. It is high time that the country should devise a comprehensive plan to mitigate the trickle-down effect of population explosion.
Briefing the panel, Joint Chief of Economic Policy Zafarul Hassan highlighted the challenges shortlisted for the 13th five-year plan, said that the objectives for the 13th five-year plan. He emphasised that the federal government has set objectives of improving the quality of human capital, preventing hunger and malnutrition, enhancing the use of technology, and making agriculture more productive and efficient. The chairperson of the committee asserted that the country should also empathise and facilitate the “Services Sector,” following the example of Bangalore, India, as the demand for services is increasing manifold. Zafarul Hassan remarked that the balance of payments poses constraints towards the expansion of the services economy.
The committee discussed the ongoing status of land acquisition for 5,000 acres for a 1,200 MW solar plant at Tehsil Choubara, District Layyah in Punjab province. Deputy Commissioner for Layyah Ameera Baidar said that land prices in Choubara Tehsil have increased manifold due to the recent increase in solar tube wells.
Senator Quratul Ain Marri remarked that the price mentioned by the District Administration is twice as high as the price evaluated by the committee. The deputy commissioner pointed out the forest land is also located in the region which is more suitable for the solar project and mentioned that the said forest land has also been proposed by the District Administration to the Secretary of Settlement (Punjab) for the allotment of land. The committee recommended that forest land should be utilised for the 1,200 MW solar project as it would save the exchequer money.
The committee was briefed on the working and performance of the National Logistics Corporation and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The committee, however, recommended that the NLC officials submit details of audit paras reflected in their accounts over the last 10 years, along with details of any theft and recoveries during the past 10 years.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024