Cabinet believes NAB needs more teeth

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Thursday called on Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif to step down as the Public Accounts Committee chairman on moral grounds.Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said this while talking to reporters here after the cabinet meeting. The minister said the cabinet was concerned over Shahbaz’s conduct as the PAC chairman and was under the impression that he was trying to protect certain elected representatives from being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for alleged corruption.He said the cabinet had expressed displeasure over the use of the PAC chairman’s office in Islamabad for issuance of production orders of MPs facing the NAB investigation. The minister said all state institutions, including the judiciary, the army and the government, were working independently under a remarkable relationship.“There exists the best-ever coordination between the government and the army. There, however, can be no check on someone’s wishes,” he quipped. He said the cabinet did not discuss the arrest of Aleem Khan adding that there was a need to strengthen the NAB. He denied any bid to curtail the powers of the anti-graft body.On the possibility of NRO, the minister said there could be no question of any deal. He insisted that impartiality and transparency were imperative and there should be no balancing act in carrying out accountability.Explaining an overview of the prices of various commodities, the minister noted that as per the Statistics Division, which gave a presentation to the cabinet, when the PML-N came into power in 2013 the prices had risen by 5.8 per cent in the first six months, and compared to that, rates increased by a much lower 1.4 per cent during the PTI government’s first six months in power.He also pointed out that prices of chicken, garlic, onion, potatoes, chickpeas, and lentils had shown a downward trend. He said the prices of eggs, cabbage, high-speed diesel and petrol were also seeing a downward trend. However, he noted that the prices of tomatoes, cement, diesel, electricity, mutton, tea had risen. Fawad said a committee had been formed under Defence Minister Pervez Khattak to monitor the prices of various goods.He explained that the committee would look into the matter along with Minister forPlanning Khusro Bakhtiar. Fawad said the formulas used by the Statistics Division would also be redone in an attempt to arrive at a more stable system of assessing prices.He said an application was being developed with which users would be able to check what prices were being charged for various products across the country so that they could compare with the prices they were being charged in their market.On the much-discussed issue of gas billing, Fawad said orders had been issued for an external audit of inflated gas bills charged to consumers over the past two months. He blamed former minister for petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for gas pricing and said when he assumed as minister there were no liabilities on the gas sector and when he left the sector had liabilities to the tune of Rs157 billion.The minister said the gas slab billing system would also be revised. He said the system would aim to limit gas price increases for the vulnerable 70 per cent of population. He pointed out that only 23 per cent of population was using natural (piped) gas for domestic needs, while the rest of the country was using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), wood or other alternative fuels.He said a portion of natural gas was being imported which was expensive thanks to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, but it was being subsidised and supplied less to domestic users. He said only 23 per cent of population was using this gas, while the rest of the country was paying for it.The minister maintained that the government eventually wanted to develop a self-reliant audit system, but for now an external audit had been ordered.Fawad said Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked the housing minister to deal with those illegally occupying properties regardless of which class they belonged to. He referred to former Senate chairman and PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani and Senator Mushahidullah Khan, who had no entitlement to live in the Minister's Enclave.With reference to expats, the minister said while the prime minister acknowledged that overseas Pakistanis were an asset to the country, the Ministry of Law was drawing up a list of government positions that dual nationals would not be entitled to. The list would be short and in most places in the federal government, overseas Pakistanis would be encouraged to come and help Pakistan.Fawad said a committee had been constituted to oversee the development work on Kartarpur Corridor. He said Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar will be the committee in-charge.The minister recalled that in a previous cabinet meeting, it had been decided that all buildings in the federal capital should be made accessible to the disabled persons. He said the prime minister had asked the Capital Development Authority (CDA) about the progress made so far in this regard.Fawad said those buildings that were not accessible to the disabled should be fined. The minister made an appeal to citizens to make use of the Pakistan Citizens’ Portal to inform the government as to which buildings were not compliant so that action could be taken against them.The minister said the Ministry of Human Rights would introduce a bill for senior citizens shortly that would protect them and provide them with facilities.About the recently-launched Sehat Insaf Card scheme, the minister said in the next stage, artists and journalists would also be involved in the scheme. He said while the government had arranged insurance for the poor in the first stage, in the next stage, salaried persons could also purchase it from the government. The minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan and his government to speed up the process of development in the tribal areas. He said an agreement had also been signed for availability of mobile service in the tribal areas.Fawad said that the country was anticipating tourism boom, as several countries had changed their travel advisory towards Pakistan, including Portugal and France, while several European countries were also doing so and it was a big achievement of Pakistan.

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