ISLAMABAD: The parliamentarians from the opposition benches Saturday criticized the government for what they call allocation of unnecessary funds for various purposes under head of Charged Expenditure for fiscal year 2016-17.
Participating in the debate on Charged Expenditures in the National Assembly, Shazia Marri of Pakistan People's Party criticized the government for allocating unnecessary funds for the presidency in various heads.
She criticized the government for continuous negligence towards foreign policy saying that Pakistan was being isolated and it has been losing relations even with brotherly countries.
She urged the finance minister to provide relief in real sense to the poor people of the country instead of just claiming that the budget has been pro-poor.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad of Awami Muslim League said that the government has fixed excessive funds for Presidency.
He supported that the members of the parliament should be given honourable salaries adding that in the country where the television anchors are paid about Rs four million salary, why there should be no raise in the salaries of parliamentarians.
He urged the government to take notice of the plight of pensioners and take measures to pay them pensions at doorsteps.
Sher Akbar Khan of Jama'at Islami urged the government to devise policies that may help get rid of the external debt and stressed the need for taking foreign affairs seriously.
Dr. Fouzia Hameed of Mutahida Qoumi Movement (MQM) stressed the need for holding population census, arguing that "making a balanced budget could not be possible unless we know how much population the country is having."
Chaudhry Sarwar of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf while participating in the budget said that although the government announced raise in the salaries of government pensioners, however such measure was taken for the private pensioners.
He expressed the hope that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be accomplished, but lamented that Gilgit-Baltistan, which is the 'gateway' of the project, is being ignored.
He said that 42 sites have been identified in Gilgit-Baltistan where hydel power could be generated and urged the government to launch such projects in the area under CPEC.
Amjid Ali Khan of PTI while taking part in the debate said that private couriers companies were making huge profits while Pakistan Post was still lagging behind in this race.
He said country's judicial system should also be revived and strengthened for speedy dispensation of justices.
He said Railways was a cheap source of transportation across the world and number of passengers' trains should be increased to benefit the masses.
He was of the views that country's economy could not be strengthened unless slashing of unnecessary expenditures.
Sheikh Salahuddin of MQM said called for reducing expenditure of Pakistan Post and judicial reforms.
He was of the views speedy justice was still a dream. The litigants have to wait for justices for years, he added.
Sahibzada Tariqullah of JI said budget of President House was increased by 7.7 per cent this year despite claims of austerity measures. He said non-development expenditure should be reduced while development budget should be increased.
He said "proper mechanism should also be made to retire foreign debt so we could get rid of international financial institutions." Practical steps should be taken to reduce burden of loans, he added.
Sha Jee Gul Afridi from FATA said an amont of Rs.3 billion was specified for Islamabad high court, Wafaqi Mohtasib and Federal Tax Ombudsman but no fund was earmarked for FATA judicial tribunal.
Shahida Rehmani of PPP said private couriers were performing well as compared to Pakistan Post despite a huge set-up and allocation for Pakistan Post under Charged expenditure head every year.
She also criticized the government for weak foreign policies and called for revisiting it.
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