Opposition leader in the National Assembly (NA) Syed Khurshid Shah said on Friday that the government should avoid privatisation of profit earning entities.
“Privatisation process should be put to debate in parliament. It is laid down in the manifesto of PML-N that those institutions will be privatised which are incurring losses. But the entities which are turning profit have also been included in the privatisation list,” Shah said while speaking in the National Assembly. “Government is selling State Life which is yielding profit. It is holding assets of Rs 700 billion.”
The National Assembly met at the Parliament House with Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in the chair.
Shah said that helping quake affectees is responsibility of the federal and provincial governments. “Government should impose emergency in quake affected areas and provide assistance to the affectees,” he said and added that the quake affectees had not been extended any financial assistance so far.
“The plight of the affectees is pitiable,” he said. His ire was not restricted to the federal government on the issue, “Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should stay in the affected areas as long as the affectees are not resettled in their homes,” he said.
He went on to say that planes are being purchased for PIA on trial basis. There is question mark on the basis on which the planes are being purchased, he said.
He regretted that heads of 35 institutions have not been appointed. New taxes of Rs 40 billion were being levied, he lamented.
He said government should not bypass the parliament. Realization should be given to the people that solution to every problem lies in strengthening the parliament. All matters should be discussed here, he said.
He urged that government should not bring supplementary budget. If it has to be brought then a law should be enacted in this regard, he added.
INDIA NOT GIVEN MFN STATUS:
Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir told the National Assembly that Pakistan had not given the Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to India and no proposal in this regard is under consideration.
Responding to a question during the question hour, he said no trade talks had been held with New Delhi since the assumption of power by the Modi government.
Dastgir told the House that there was movement of 150 items on the Wagah Border. He said that the government had approved Textile Policy 2014.
He said that trainings would be arranged for the farmers. Responding to another question, the commerce minister informed the House that rice worth $2 billion was being exported. There are some problems in exporting due to crisis in the international market, he added.
