ISLAMABAD, June 12: The Senate on Thursday made 15 recommendations to the National Assembly for inclusion in the federal budget as the opposition continued its boycott of the debate for the third consecutive day. Meanwhile, the debate in the National Assembly continued on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz assured the Senate that all non-binding recommendations — made for the first time by the upper house about the budget as required by the LFO- amended constitution — would be given due consideration.

One recommendations asked Wapda to review its public sector development programme (PSDP) of Rs31.1 billion and increase its allocations for Sindh, since the amount allocated for “small hydro power project on canal falls in Punjab and Sindh” was insufficient.

It also called for allocating additional resources for Karachi, providing much-needed impetus to the services sector of the country that was vital for economic growth.

The Wapda was also required to give details of funds allocated for its village electrification programme while urging to ensure “system improvement of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) network and reduction of transmission and distribution losses,” for which Rs3.67 billion have been provided in the PSDP.

Senators also stressed the need for providing conditional financial support to both Wapda and KESC, saying they should be given support in exchange of a firm commitment not to raise their power tariff besides cutting line losses and improving accounts receivables.

It was recommended the Rs53 billion subsidy meant for Wapda and KESC should be diverted to development programmes to reduce poverty and improve basic infrastructure if these organizations failed to improve their financial performance.

The senators suggested to review PSDP allocations in all the federal divisions to ensure equitable distribution of allocation for providing equal opportunities of development to all regions of Pakistan. The total amount of PSDP for human resource development should also be identified.

Another suggestion called for retaining exemption from withholding tax for national savings scheme (NSS) because of majority of the NSS account holders were poor pensioners, widows and small savers.

One recommendation called for reduction in duties on motor vehicles and asking the local manufacturers to reduce prices of their cars or import of used cars must be allowed.

All the private schools should also be asked to admit five per cent of their student enrolment on full scholarship (tuition and books) on merit and income basis and reputable institutions should be asked to help in teachers training.

It was also proposed that all SROs issued by the CBR or finance ministry to impose or abolish any tax should be laid before both the houses of parliament.

One recommendation called for allocating funds to popularise technical education while another suggested formation of a committee to look into the problems of senior citizens by giving them concessions in rail and air travel.k