ISLAMABAD: Senators from both sides of the aisle Wednesday urged political parties to work for progress, prosperity and development of the country.
Opening debate on federal budget 2018-19, parliamentary leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Azam Khan Swati said all the political parties should work for eliminating corruption.
He said the budget announced by the government last week was not pro-poor.
The government, he claimed, had not achieved the targets which it had set in the last budget. No country could progress without investing in education and the government had done nothing to improve the literacy rate, he added.
Swati said economic emergency should be announced as otherwise the country would be declared bankrupt.
Lt General (R) Abdul Qayyum of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the lawmakers should give recommendations to to bring improvement in the budget. It was unfortunate that the PTI's parliamentary leader in the Senate was doing political point securing instead of giving suggestions.
It was the collective responsibility of political parties to work for the country's uplift, he added.
He said presenting the budget in the parliament was a legal obligation.
He said the government had added thousands of megawatts electricity to the national grid. Many pending power projects had also been completed by the government in the last five years, he added.
Qayyum expressed the hope that in the coming year, exports will be increased due to the steps taken by the government.
He said during the PML-N government ‘s tenure, gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate and tax collection had increased. “Tax collection had increased by 13.2 percent to GDP,” he added.
He said 10 percent increase in retired employees' pension was not enough and suggested the government to raise the same by 100 percent.
Awami National Party's Sitara Ayaz said the budget was not pro-poor while many incentives had been announced for the rich. The government should announce steps for the middle class, she added.
She appreciated the government for increasing collection. She extended full cooperation to the government for addressing the country’s facing the challenges.
Sassui Palijo of the Pakistan Peoples Party said it was unfortunate that the 18th Constitutional Amendment had not been implemented in its true letter and spirit. No allocation had been made for the provinces in the budget, which was also anti-poor, she added.
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