Federal cabinet rejected salary raise of ministers, state ministers: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the federal cabinet has rejected the salary raise of ministers and state ministers, ARY News reported.

Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference after a federal cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan today, said that a 50 per cent eligible populace of Islamabad was administered the COVID-19 vaccine.

He said that Karachi and Hyderabad are still lagging behind in the COVID-19 vaccine while the Sindh government should review its own situation besides ensuring good governance.

The information minister said that there are serious concerns regarding the spread of novel coronavirus in Sindh province and the federal government has powers to ask the provinces for ensuring good governance.

Fawad said that 23 Pakistani prisoners have reached Pakistan from Saudi Arabia while hundreds of Pakistani inmates were brought back home from around the world. He added that the premier was fully aware of the nationals who are residing in foreign countries. In a previous decision in favour of overseas Pakistanis, the diplomatic staff was called back to the country for not taking care of the Pakistani labour in Saudi Arabia.

He said that every Pakistani in a foreign country is the ambassador of Pakistan. The cabinet members were given a briefing over the electronic voting machine (EVM) in today’s session. The Speaker Office is taking forward the matters related to the use of EVMs by holding consultations with the opposition, said Fawad.

The minister criticised that those facing defeat in the elections termed the process rigged. He detailed that 49 election reforms were recommended by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He urged for formulating a comprehensive system for democracy.

Fawad Chaudhry said that Nawaz Sharif, Fazlur Rehman and Maryam Nawaz were not part of the Parliament House while the said personalities were willing to destroy the system. The federal government will hold talks with the leadership that is present in the parliament. He also welcomed the statement of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif’s in which he hinted to hold talks.

The minister said that a briefing was given by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman regarding the removal of encroachments. PM Imran Khan issued directives for the protection of green areas besides asking the navy, air force and police forces to vacate the green areas. Fawad said that powerful people have been directed to remove encroachments.

“Interior Ministry has been given powers for the issuance of arms licences of prohibited bore weapons. The federal cabinet approved handing over Mujahid Pervez to the United States (US). We have an agreement for prisoners’ exchange with the US but not with the United Kingdom (UK).”

“The cabinet approved the appointment of Jabbar Khan as CCO Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO). The demand for electricity has reached up to 26,000 megawatts while 24,000 to 25,000 MWs are being supplied by the national grid. The past government had not worked on the power transmission system except establishing power plants.”

Fawad Chaudhry said that the inflation rate is coming down while the current account deficit has increased. He added that Rs315 billion worth of loans will be given to the youth and farmers. Four million people will be given the loans this year.

He said that the textile sector has no capacity to take orders till 2023 while large-scale manufacturing has significantly increased in the country. The federal government fixed the cotton price up to Rs5,000 per 40-kilogram.

The federal cabinet postponed the opening of the Prime Minister House for private functions. A university is being established on land located on the backside of the Prime Minister House.

Fawad Chaudhry said that PM Imran Khan will write a letter to the opposition leader for consulting him regarding the appointment of the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).