PM to announce ‘big package’ for people hit by inflation today

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation on Wednesday (today) to announce a massive package to provide relief to the poor people.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain made this announcement while briefing media persons here about the decisions taken at the cabinet meeting, held earlier with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair. He said around53 percent population of the country will benefit from this relief package.

Fawad Chaudhry said the Prime Minister will also take the nation into confidence over economic situation of the country. He said the cabinet approved promulgation of Ehsaas Ordinance 2021 to help the deserving families in an effective way.

The Information Minister said the cabinet also discussed prices of essential items in Pakistan and the region and it was observed that prices of essential goods are lower in Pakistan than in the regional countries like India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. 

He said it is also a fact that poverty ratio in these countries is much higher as compared to Pakistan. Fawad Chaudhry said the government’s coalition partners have generously extended their support for the electoral reforms agenda. He said the cabinet barred the government from acquisition of land for housing societies. He said a committee, comprising the Establishment, Finance and the Housing ministries, will be constituted to review the existing policy for allotment of plots to government employees.

Coalition partners supporting govt’s electoral reforms, says Fawad

The Minister said the cabinet rejected a summary to withdraw duty on import of vintage cars.

Coalition partners supporting govt’s electoral reforms

Chaudhry Fawad Hussain also said the government’s coalition partners graciously supporting the electoral reforms of Prime Minister Imran Khan, assured him of taking forward the agenda in future.

 

“We have put forth our idea of electoral reforms which is comprised on 49-points before our coalition partners including PML-Q and MQM who will be further briefed on this in near future,” he said while addressing the media in a post-cabinet briefing.

 

He said PM Imran Khan met the coalition partners after chairing the Federal Cabinet meeting and took them into confidence on the government’s stance on Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the backdrop of electoral reforms.

 

The minister said there was a consistent position of the government on electoral system which is needed to be reformed for ensuring free and fair elections and strengthening democracy in the country.

  

He said a detailed briefing on comparison of the commodities’ prices with other regional countries was given to the forum and assured that the prices in Pakistan were lowest in the region. He said the fuel prices in Pakistan are still lowest as compare to the non oil producing countries. The minister said wheat flour price in Pakistan was Rs 60.9 per kilogram, while in India and Bangladesh, it stood at Rs 83 and in Afghanistan that was around Rs 73.

 

Likewise, price of gram pulse per kg in Pakistan was Rs 146.77, while in India, it was being sold at Rs 166, and in Bangladesh at Rs 224, he said, adding price of Mash in Pakistan was Rs 245.84, while, in India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, it stood at Rs 244, Rs 334 and Rs 214, respectively.

 

He said the price of onion in Pakistan was Rs 47.14 per kg, while in India and Bangladesh, it was Rs 95 and Rs 121, respectively. The price of chicken in Pakistan was 254.92, and in India and Bangladesh, it was being sold at Rs 438 and Rs 324, respectively.

 

He said in Pakistan, petrol price was Rs 138.73 per litter, while in India, it was Rs 258 and Rs 180 per litter rate was in Bangladesh. Fawad said the poverty level in those countries with whom the comparison was drawn was higher than Pakistan as per latest World Bank report.

 

Drawing inter-provincial comparison of edibles, he said in Rawalpindi, a 20 kg wheat flour bag was available at Rs 1,100, whereas in Karachi its price was Rs 1,470.

 

Similarly, sugar price in Rawalpindi was Rs 90 per kg, whereas in Karachi it was being sold at Rs 120.

He said that the price of Mong pulse was Rs 148 in Punjab, while in Karachi, its rate was Rs 196. Gram price here was Rs 153 and in Karachi, it was 164.

 

He lashed out at the Sindh government for failing to control prices of commodities and asked Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to rather hold a protest against inflation next time before the Sindh’s Chief Minister House.

 

The minister said the Sindh government needed to improve its governance so that people of the province could get some relief in the wake of high inflation in the province. He said the Ministries of Commerce and Information and Broadcasting gave the presentation to the Cabinet on the vacant posts available in their attached departments. Fawad said the Federal Cabinet had decided that the government would not acquire the land of the local people for construction of housing societies which used to be the policy in the past.

 

He said that it had been decided that the prime minister’s discretionary powers to allot plots would be abolished.  The prime minister had not used that discretionary power so far.

To a question, he said that the President has the power to appoint or remove the Chairman NAB.

He is not subject to the advice of the Prime Minister, the President has powers as per the Constitution of Pakistan, said Fawad. He said that when we went to the Supreme Judicial Council against the former chairman NAB, the Supreme Court said that it was not a constitutional nomination. Keeping in view remarks of Judicial Council, someone has to be given this authority, and these powers are given to President, said Fawad. He said that the powers of NAB need to be brought into the framework, which was also demanded by the Parliament and the media.

He also invited the opposition to sit with us on the amendments regarding NAB reforms and electoral reforms.  He said that the Prime Minister has been saying from day one that NAB should pay attention to big cases, if every case will go to NAB, then it can lose its credibility.

Replying to a question, the Federal Minister for Information said that after the response to Shehbaz Sharif’s rally in Dera Ghazi Khan, he should have returned the same night but he did not come.  He said that Shehbaz Sharif was not a public figure but a conspiratorial man.

He did not know why he had gone on a public campaign. He hoped he would return soon. In response to another question, the Federal Minister of Information said that the opposition should sit with us on electoral reforms, brought their suggestions, we are going to pass the law, we cannot delay it, even after the approval of the law, talks will continue with the opposition, Fawad maintained.