–Summary moved to reduce prices of 89 life-saving medicines
–Cabinet suspends matters of six other ordinances during Monday’s meeting
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday directed the authorities concerned to take steps for controlling prices of basic food items and called the chief ministers of all four provinces for a meeting on Friday to devise a strategy to control inflation, which surged by 11.4 per cent year-on-year in September.
The development was announced by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan in a post-cabinet meeting press briefing.
“The premier has also directed officials to maintain the prices of life-saving medicines. The participants of the meeting were told that a summary was being moved to reduce the prices of 89 medicines,” she said.
Firdous told the media that the cabinet members decided that the price committees of provinces will be activated whereas elements responsible for fluctuation of prices and hoarding would be penalised in accordance with the law.
The federal cabinet also approved the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
Further, the premier also took the cabinet members into confidence over his recent visits to China and Iran. He apprised the cabinet of his efforts to facilitate better relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The cabinet members were told that the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has recovered 1,262 acres of land during the past year.
“The cabinet also approved the appointment of board members under the Health Care Act as well as the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Ordinance,” she said.
The participants of the meeting approved a master plan for Islamabad and a reorganisation plan of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
Dr Firdous said it was decided to take up the G-6 sector in Islamabad as the pilot project under the new master plan. The cabinet approved building of a state of the art and modern housing sector in G-6. It was decided to restructure the policy on zoning of sectors and high-rise buildings. The people of Islamabad were facing difficulties due to shifting of responsibilities between Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) which was not fully empowered, she observed.
She said in the master plan, different bypasses, ring roads and highways were proposed to divert traffic coming from other parts of the country away from Islamabad.
The cabinet principally approved the separation of policy making and regulatory powers of CDA and make it a modern and autonomous organisation.
The SAPM said that the cabinet members also approved the policy regarding Langar Khanas. Under the policy, the programme will be run under a public-private partnership to extend its scope.
The cabinet suspended the matters of six other ordinances during Monday’s meeting.
