- Remhan suggests new NADRA, passport offices in foreign missions to facilitate overseas Pakistanis
The Senate on Friday continued a discussion on the Finance Bill-2017, containing the annual budget statement, under Article 73 of the Constitution.
Participating in the discussion, Senator Rehman Malik said that efforts should be made to increase foreign remittances. He said that steps should be taken for the promotion of overseas employment while new passport and NADRA offices should be set-up in foreign missions to maximum facilitate the overseas Pakistanis.
He said that more allocations should be made for the law enforcement agencies while anti-narcotics force should be further strengthened. Senator Javed Abbasi appreciated the finance minister for presenting a balanced budget which was being hailed by all segments of society. “Pakistan is on path of economic progress due to strong economic strategy,” he said.
He said that special attention was paid on energy sector and several mega projects were initiated. He said that the world economy monitors declared country’s economy as emerging and termed government’s policies as best financial discipline. He said that present GDP remained at highest level in 10 years, and more people were included in tax net with focus on revenue generation.
He said foreign exchange reserves also increased during the tenure of the present government. He said that the government had paid special attention on promotion of the agriculture sector while several incentives had been announced for farmers including agriculture loans for them. He said that there was plan to set up 1000 new stitching units to promote the textile industry.
He said that the government was working to overcome the load shedding issue by adding 10,000 megawatts in the system. He said that Rs 401 billion had been allocated for the energy sector projects in the budget while allocation has been made for the Dashu Dam. He said that Rs 35 billion has been allocated for the higher education while sufficient allocation has been made for the provision of the soft drinking water.
Senator Usman Kakar said that poor and destitute segment of the society should be given more relief in the budget. He said that the strategy was needed for proper utilisation of available resources. He said that adequate funds should be allocated for less developed areas in the budget to change the life of a common man.
He said that more allocations should be made for education and health sector. He suggested that more funds should be allocated for initiating development projects in Balochistan. He said that focus should also be paid on the agriculture reforms.