Appointment/reappointment of NAB chief: Opposition to act in accordance with constitution: Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: As the government is bent upon not to consult the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly over extension to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, Shehbaz Sharif said that the opposition would do what the law and the constitution says.

In a brief conversation with journalists inside Parliament House, Sharif, who is the opposition leader in the NA, said: "We'll do what the law and the constitution says [about extension to the NAB chairman]''.

The Information Minister, Fawad Chaudhary, had already said that the government would not consult the issue of extension to the NAB chairman, with the opposition leader as he is facing graft cases.

Earlier, the government once again miserably failed to complete the quorum in the National Assembly for the sixth consecutive day, forcing the chair to adjourn the House.

During question hour, the Federal Aviation Minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, said that they have terminated the services of 50 pilots after scrutiny found degrees possessed by them as fake."We had launched an inquiry against 262 pilots over suspicious credentials and 50 of them were terminated after a probe found them guilty," he added.

He said that 73 people were recruited in the PIA during the incumbent government's tenure and all recruitments were based on merit and after following all procedures.

He said that previously jobs were given in the aviation sector based on political affiliations and fake degrees, adding people holding fake degrees have been terminated.

Sharing details of flight operations, the minister said that two flights are being operated between Karachi and Sukkur, while Dalbadin airport has also been made operational.

On January 29, a pilot and five officers of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in fake pilots' licence scandal. The FIA corporate crime circle completed its investigation into the issuance of fake licences.

Overall six arrests have been made including five CAA by the agency's corporate crime circle. The accused were allegedly involved in issuance of Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL).

In a written reply to a question, the Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mehmood, informed the House that the government is focusing on hi-tech, IT and high-end courses such as cloud-based computing, graphics and web designing to impart skill training to the youth in the coming months.

He said that it is conducting Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) courses all over Pakistan to benefit the youth to take advantage of vast opportunities available in the IT and the industrial sector. It was said that the TVET courses for less-developed areas in conventional trades such as electrician and plumber will continue.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021