Govt ready to incorporate ‘constructive’ suggestions in Budget 2024: Tarar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar said on Sunday that the government was ready to incorporate positive and constructive suggestions from the Opposition in the budget for 2024-25.

Participating in the budget debate, he mentioned that it had been a tradition for the Opposition parties to present a shadow budget for decades. “When we and the PPP were in the Opposition in the past, we used to bring shadow budgets. We proposed how we could improve the budget presented by the government,” he added.

In the shadow budget, he added that both parties suggested ways to reduce taxes and subsidies and provided more relief to poor people.

The minister criticised the Opposition members for ‘making judgments’ without thoroughly reviewing the budget document.

Highlighting the budgetary proposals, he said that the government had increased the salaries of government employees by 20 to 25 percent and raised the minimum wage.

He questioned the Opposition’s objection to the government’s decision to bring non-filers into the tax net and noted that the government had reduced electricity tariffs for the industry.

The minister pointed out that currently, Pakistan has foreign reserves to cover two months, compared to only 15 days during the PTI regime. He also mentioned the remarkable performance of the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Condemning the objectionable language used by Sunni Ittehad Council member, he remarked that the same member used to call Nawaz Sharif as “Aaqa” when he was in the PML-N.

The minister recalled that Maryam Nawaz Sharif was arrested in front of her father, and Faryal Talpur was arrested in a hospital; both could have fled but they chose not to do so.

Regarding the minorities, he said that he represented about 70,000 Christian voters in his constituency. He stressed the need to end the trend of street justice and criticized the Opposition for not supporting a resolution in the House for the protection of minorities.

“We attended the last rites of Christian Pakistan Army sepoy Haroon William, who sacrificed his life for the country,” the minister said.

He lamented that a unanimous resolution for the protection of minorities could not be passed by the House due to the opposition attitude. “Even today, we remember the incident of the Sri Lankan factory manager who was killed in the name of religion,” he added.

The minister stated that Operation Azm-e-Istehkam was approved to combat terrorism and would soon be presented before the cabinet and the National Assembly.

Referring to SIC leadership, he accused them of bringing back the Taliban and settling them in Swat. He criticized the discussion about “good” and “bad” Taliban, noting that the National Action Plan, finalized in 2014, was fully implemented.

Attaullah Tarar expressed regret that the PTI government differentiated between good and bad Taliban. “When a Pakistani soldier is hit by a bullet, it does not carry a label indicating whether it is from the good Taliban or the bad Taliban,” he said, stressing the need for unity against terrorism. “We want to secure the country,” he added.

The minister also mentioned the negative propaganda against a Chinese delegation visiting Pakistan. He said that Pakistan’s friendly countries want to invest in Pakistan and trade with Pakistan, which was beneficial for both sides.

Regarding the opposition’s remarks about hospitals in Punjab, Attaullah Tarar pointed out that many hospitals were closed during their rule in the province.

He pointed out that people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa now come to the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology for treatment. He questioned, how many hospitals the Opposition built in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.