24 June 2004	Thursday	05 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, June 23: The National Assembly continued voting on demands for grant as the house rejected all the opposition cut motions by voice vote in its morning and afternoon sessions on Wednesday and approved demands for grants in respect of education , cabinet, establishment, NRB, NAB and defence divisions.

Speaking on their cut motions the opposition members criticized the working of various government departments for which expenditures were required. Taking part in the cut motion on Public Service Commission for which Rs120.1 million were approved, MMA's Hafiz Hussain Ahmed expressed his surprise that no civilian person was available for appointment as chairman of the commission.

The house passed demands for grants of Rs365.20 million for the cabinet division, Rs226.55 million for the prime minister's secretariat, Rs467.08 million for the National Accountability Bureau, Rs25.89 million for prime minister's inspection commission, Rs1263.54 million for emergency, relief and repatriation, Rs53.08 million for land reforms, Rs283.03 million for cabinet division, Rs451.68 million for miscellaneous expenditures, Rs1201.00 million for federal Public Service Commission.

Speaking on his cut motion, MMA's Liaqat Baloch said that the nation definitely desired that corruption should be eliminated from society but unfortunately the NAB was used in the last few years only to victimize politicians, a reality which President General Pervez Musharraf had also acknowledged, saying this institution had failed to do real accountability.

As a result of these lacunas, the people called corrupt by the president had been successful to make it to the assemblies. As such, this institution had lost credibility among the masses. He described the accountability law as a black law.

Raja Pervez Ashraf of PPP Parliamentarians said the objective of the NAB was to eradicate corruption across the board but it was rather being misused. Despite the fact that NAB chairman had accepted that "there have been numerous complaints against sitting federal ministers", no action had been taken against them. He demanded that instead of a general, a Supreme Court judge be appointed as NAB chairman.

Sherry Rahman, also of PPP Parliamentarians, alleged that in the presence of NAB, Rs22 billion were written off and Rs12 billion were spent on its own establishment "which has recovered only Rs23 billion so far."

Manzoor Wassan criticized allocation of Rs74 million for the National Reconstruction Bureau "which has been unable to remove differences between districts and provincial governments."

Maimoona Hashmi of PML-N said that foreign consultants had been hired in the NRB against exorbitant salaries. MMA's parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed, while criticizing budgetary allocations in the education sector, alleged that the government had introduced an education system in connivance with the US which militated against the national aspirations.

The house approved demands for grants worth Rs579.258 million for education and Rs7045.608 million for the Higher Education Commission. Other demands approved were: Rs272.079 million for Survey of Pakistan, Rs859.079 million for educational institutions in cantonments and garrisons, Rs193.788 million for defence services, Rs1245.168 million for federal government educational institutions, Rs6147.757 million for other loans and advances by federal government, Rs448.193 million for development expenditure of cabinet division, Rs4.00 million for establishment division, Rs873.850 million for defence division, Rs56.636 million for federal government educational institutions, Rs3359.040 million for development of education division and Rs4820.240 million for development of atomic energy, Rs42.47 million for stationery and printing.

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).