Decision about Kalabagh dam only with consensus of provinces: Ali Muhammad

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan Thursday said decision about construction of Kalabagh dam will be taken with the consensus of all provinces as Pakistan was a federation.

Responding to points of orders of lawmakers in the National Assembly, he said after a gap of five decades, the government of Pakistan had started work on Diamer Bhasha and Mohmand dams.

He assured legislator Jamshed Thomas that the accused involved in the killing of a member of the Christian community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be arrested and brought to justice.

He said letters will be sent to Inspector General and concerned district police officer in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to arrest the accused and pursue the case against him.

To a point of order of Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali about adoption of Urdu as official language, he said English was used as a language for communication because of its importance at the international level.

When the time will come, Urdu will be used more in the official and state affairs, he added.

Parliamentary Secretary for Commerce Aliya Hamza said the government would give billions of rupees of subsidy to farmers of sugarcane and wheat.

The government was focused on the building of dams and on implementation of water policy, she said adding the government had given subsidy to farmers on fertilisers and on purchase of tractors.

Relief was given to farmers using tubewells and the Sindh government was given medicines worth millions of rupees and spraying equipment to cope with the threat of locust attacks, she told.