MNAs ask for investigation into use of public sector loans

ISLAMABAD: Members of the National assembly (MNAs) from both sides of the aisle on Sunday called for investigation into the use of huge loans taken by the past governments.

They were unanimous that the country was facing difficult economic conditions and the political parties should cooperate with the government on the common agenda of  boosting the economic growth.

Participating in the debate on the federal budget 2019-20, Amjad Ali Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said the PTI government had to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because the last regime had left behind huge loans and the circular debt.

He said the country's economic conditions had deteriorated because assets and properties were made in foreign countries. The main parties in the opposition should tell the nation as to how they had come into power in the past, he added.

Amjad said the PTI government contacted Indian Prime Minister Modi for the sake of country's security and integrity.

He thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking steps to remove deprivations of the people of South Punjab.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government had faced the most difficult conditions in 1970s as after the war of 1971, Pakistan had lost its territory and he had to  get freed thousands of prisoners of war.

He said when the last PPP government left, the current account deficit was at $ 2.5 billion but now it was about $ 22 billion.

He said the parliament was the mother of all institutions and it should be respected.

He recalled that the PPP government had given the Gwadar port to China by taking back its control from Singapore, laying the basis for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The PPP encouraged farmers and Pakistan achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production, he added.

Raja Pervaiz reminded that the PPP government faced the challenges of worst flood in the country’s history, took back Swat and Malakand from militants, started Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), gave jobs to thousands of people and raised salaries and pensions of civil employees and armed forces.

He said environment in the country should be improved as business confidence was now shattered and investors were afraid to carry on their commercial activities.

Shahida Akhtar Ali of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) said the budget had increased the prices of daily use items  and called for minimising the tax collection target of Rs 5,550 billion. She also demanded to reduce taxes imposed on the people.

She urged the government to increase allocations for human resource development. PTI's Tashfeen Safdar said 5 million houses would be constructed as the government had hired the services of experts for the purpose. She criticised Metro bus and Orange Line train projects of the last Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

PML-N's Rasheed Ahmed Khan blamed political instability as the main reason of the country’s economic woes. He called for giving subsidy to farmers as their expenditures had surpassed from earnings. Decrease in the prices of pesticides and other agriculture items would help reduce farmers' expenditures, he added.

He claimed that the PML-N government had added 12,000 megawatt electricity to the national grid  system which eliminated load-shedding from the country.

Ms Wajiha Akram of the PTI lauded the efforts of government’s economic team for steering the country out of economic crisis. Allocation of Rs 205 million in the next financial year’s budget for completing various knowledge economy projects was appreciable, she added.

Ramesh Lal of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) demanded to impose ban on change of loyalties by legislators. He lauded the services of Asif Ali Zardari for empowering the parliament.

Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh of the PTI hailed the government for allocation Rs 20 billion for completing various projects of his constituency Dera Ismael Khan under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He demanded allocation of sufficient funds for constructing small dams in his area.

PML-N's Ms Tahira Aurangzeb accused the government of increasing the prices of items of daily use.

Sheikh Rashid Shafique of the PTI lauded economic policies of the government. He said the people of Rawalpindi, from he had won the general election, had been deprived of basic amenities of life. He thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for upgrading Government Post Graduate College Sixth Road Rawalpindi to university at  the cost of Rs 500 million, which would enable over 400 girls to get higher education in their city.

Shehnaz Naseer Baloch of Balochistan National Party (Mengal) said the government should fulfill its promises made with her party and the people of Balochistan.

She said Balochistan had the problem of lack of drinking water. The province should be given resources for development of its infrastructure and social sector, she added.

She complained of inflation and price hikes and said Balochistan had also the problem of high infant mortality rate, and mother and children were facing malnutrition and deficiency of iron and zinc. Under the Ehsaas programme, women and other vulnerable sections of society should be given health facilities and other benefits, she added.

Shehnaz said the population growth should be controlled on war footing and the provinces and the federal government should work together on the issue.  She said projects like China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should be completed to ensure benefits for Pakistan. She suggested changes in the electoral system, improvement in health facilities and job creation for youth.

Lal Chand of the PTI said the government inherited loans of Rs 30,000 billion, huge current account and budget deficits, and loss making public sector entities.

He said the death of children in Tharparkar district was unfortunate, adding the federal government was issuing health cards in Sindh without discrimination.

He said Sindh was producing 70 percent of the natural gas but the districts of Tharparkar and Umerkot were deprived of the facility. Sindh should be provided its share of water so that its sense of deprivation should end, he added.

The MNA complained that much of the funds were spent on development of Karachi and other parts of the Sindh province were not getting due share.

He said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should be further activated to take action against the corrupt elements.

He said he supported the 18th Constitutional Amendment, but the issues of minorities were devolved to the provinces and the problems of Hindus, including their forced conversions, should be looked into.

Poverty, he said, was increasing in Sindh and the province was facing an economic crisis.

False cases were registered against political workers in Sindh because of their support to the Pakistan Tehreek I Insaf (PTI), he alleged.

PPPP's Shagufta Jamani said jails were not new for the party, whose leader Asif Zardari had spent 11 years in prison and was now again sent to jail. Asif Zardari abolished Article 58(2) from the Constitution to empower the prime minister,  introduced 18th Amendment and other reforms to strengthen the political system, she added.

PTI's Dr Haider Ali said the bad governance of the past had damaged the economy and Pakistan became dependent on the assistance of international  financial institutions.

The PTI government was working to take the country out of the present economic difficulties, he added.

Haider said the PTI came into the government because of reaction against the parties that remained in power for a long period.

It was policy of the PTI government to remove backwardness of merged FATA areas, he said, adding the five-year tax exemptions for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) should be kept intact.

He castigated the opposition parties for rejecting the budget, adding the suitable budget was presented in the present time and the opposition should cooperate.

Mehnaz Aziz said civilized societies focus on human development and Prime Minister Imran Khan also stressed on issues of stunting among children.

According to the latest survey, one in three children were under weight and the present PTI government lacked planning to resolve this issue, she pointed out.

Ten million children were facing stunting and a malnutrition emergency should be declared, she said adding price hike of food items was making difficult for the parents to send their children to school.

Mehnaz Aziz said resources for human development were decreased in the budget. The budget for education and health was cut, 18 percent budget of the Higher Education Commission was reduced and similar reductions were made in other sectors, she added.

The budget on protection of human rights was cut to half, she said and stressed financial resources for human development should be increased.

Shahid Khattak said the PTI government was making efforts to improve condition of the common man. He said the PTI was again brought to power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it had undertaken successful reforms in education and police departments there during its last government.