The National Assembly was informed on Friday that 12543 arrests have been made by Sindh Rangers and Police during the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi to rid the city of criminals, target killers and extortionists.
Minister of State for Interior Balighur Rehman told the House during question hour that Karachi police conducted 8230 raids in different areas of the provincial capital during the last three months, killing 83 criminals in different encounters. Large caches of arms and ammunition as well as drugs were recovered during the operations. He said crime rate has considerably reduced as a result of the targeted operations. The federal government is extending full support to the provincial government for maintenance of law and order situation in Karachi.
The minister said that all unverified SIMs in Karachi have been blocked and cellular companies have initiated biometric verification system for issuance of SIMs.
Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada told the House that there is no proposal under consideration to close down ERRA. He said out of 14513 projects, the authority has completed 9580 in different sectors in earthquake affected areas of Azad Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Remaining projects are at various stages of completion.
He said that Chashma Nuclear Power Project Unit-III would be connected to the national grid in 2016 while Chashma Nuclear Power Project Unit-IV will come in the system in 2017.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal informed the House that the government is taking on board the provinces to enhance allocations for the social sector development. He said the next five year plan and Vision 2025 envisages schemes for bringing major improvements in the education and health sectors besides ensuring access to clean water and sanitation.
Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Afzal Khan told the House that Overseas Pakistanis remitted $6.44 billion during the last four months. He said most of the remittances came from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Facilities such as zero rating on transactions are being given to enhance remittances.
