Women parliamentarians on Saturday hailed the budget for fiscal year 2011-12 and termed it as an effort to give relief to the poor. Talking to APP, Chairperson of National Assembly Standing Committee on Social Welfare and Special Education Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani said that the budget would provide relief to the masses at the time when the country was faced with crises.
She said this was the fourth consecutive budget presented during the democratic era with a special focus on providing relief to the poor masses while keeping in view the ground realities. It had come upto the expectations of masses. She said the tax relief provided in the budget would help the business class and the masses.
She criticised the opposition members for shouting during the budget speech in the National Assembly. These people are in fact tax defaulters and want to destabilise the country, she alleged. She said the special education department has been retained as a federal subject and similarly "we want that the umbrella of the devolved ministries specially education and health should also be kept as federal subjects".
Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto praised the budget and said the allocations have been made for many small and large dams to tackle the energy crisis. The increase in the salaries of government employees upto 15 percent will help improve their living standard, she noted. She said, "less than five million people pay the tax and this has been a factor in compelling many people to live below poverty line. Long-term planning has been announced in this budget to bring more people in the tax net."
Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Farzana Raja said the negative propaganda of opposition was an attempt to destabilise democracy in the country. The idea as proposed in the budget for generating revenue through raising tax base is a good step. It will be a great success if the government manages to achieve the targets as laid down in the budget, she added. She said this step would help reduce dependence on foreign aid and make the country self-reliant.
Farzana said people should pay the taxes regularly so that the living conditions of the poor can be improved. Farzana called for broadening the tax net to boost economic stability in the country. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said that an additional amount of Rs 600 billion for the provinces in the budget would envision a prosper Pakistan. She said the government had spent funds in three major areas including energy, flood hit areas and law enforcement agencies.
The government has spent an amount of Rs 80 billion in energy sector last year which has now been raised upto Rs 280 billion so that a common man should be provided electricity, she added. An amount of Rs 30 billion was spent on floods and others on law enforcement agencies, which she said, was justified.