03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: The Senate Functional Committee on Government Assurances on Saturday asked the government to improve the procedures of Tameer-i-Pakistan (TIP) programme to ensure timely implementation of the scheme.

Presided over by Senator Chaudhry Mohammad Anwar Bhinder, the meeting of the functional committee reviewed the implementation status of different government assurances given on the floor of the house from time to time, relating to ministries of interior, information and broadcasting, education and local government and rural development.

The committee also discussed the assurance given on a point of order raised by Senator Kamil Agha regarding the release of development funds for the parliamentarians.

The committee was informed that the funds for TPP could not lapse, however the unspent amount was returned to the government at the close of each financial year as per procedure which at times resulted in delay.

The committee, however, called upon the government to open a non-lapsable account in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for management of funds.

An allocation of Rs3.7 billion has been made available to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development out of which Rs3.6 billion was disbursed for different schemes relating to electrification, sanitation, education, health, water supply and roads.

It was told that the TPP was approved by the federal cabinet in December 2002 but was formally launched in April 2003. Initially only MNAs were authorized to identify infrastructure development schemes for their respective constituencies but its scope was extended to senators in January 2004.

The committee also considered the assurance given by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on a motion by Senator Babar Khan Ghauri that he would move a summary in the federal cabinet to allocate suitable funds for providing financial assistance to the artists.

The committee was told that the ministry, Pakistan Television (PTV) and STN already provided financial assistance to the needy and deserving artists on one time basis only, though as per rule of business, it was the domain of the culture ministry. However, no institutional arrangement existed for providing assistance to artists on regular basis.

The meeting was informed that PTV and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) had almost doubled the fee structure of artists during the last two years.

The committee directed the ministry to prepare a comprehensive scheme for the welfare of aging and ailing artists and forwarded it to the cabinet for consideration.

The committee also considered the assurance regarding initiating developmental work and allotment of plots to the members in the National Police Foundation Housing Scheme in Mohafiz Town Lahore. The committee was told that the development work in this scheme was suspended earlier owing to paucity of funds and the possession of plots would be handed over to the allottees on completion of development work after receipt of outstanding dues from the members.

The committee decided to constitute a sub-committee comprising senators Syed Dilawar Abbas and Ms Gulshan Saeed to examine the record and suggest ways and means to ensure speedy completion of the development work in Mohafiz Town.

The committee examined the assurance given by the interior minister on a point of order raised by Senator Chaudhry Mohammad Anwar Bhinder regarding development of sector I-16 in Islamabad.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, however, informed the committee that the progress on the development of the sector was stalled mainly because of non-cooperative attitude of landowners.

He admitted that the problem of housing in Islamabad was very acute and the issue needed to be taken up on priority basis.