Cabinet size, NAB’s role criticized: NA debates demands for grants
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, June 15: Huge size and poor performance of the cabinet, huge funds allocations for the NAB with its dubious role as opposition tormenter and lack of land reforms came under fire by the opposition through cut motions when the National Assembly started marathon of approving 170 demands for grants on Wednesday.
Taking floor on cut motions on demands for grants for cabinet division, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Liaquat Baloch said that the government had recruited a huge army of ministers but was not fulfilling the requirement of article 29(3) of the constitution which called for presenting monthly performance report of ministries in the house.
Similarly, he said, merit was not observed in postings of officials and the process was undertaken on personal likes and dislikes.
The National Accountability Bureau, he said, had been provided huge allocations though it had damaged the very concept of accountability by targeting only anti-government politicians as a result corrupt people had made their way in parliament and the cabinet.
People’s Party Parliamentarians’ Chaudhry Manzoor said the government’s wish to turn the country into a modern industrialised state could only be fulfilled when the process of land reforms, initiated by Ayub Khan and carried on by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was reintroduced.
Shakila Khanum supported the proposal, saying the handing over of uncultivated land to farmers would boost country’s economy and improve conditions of the poor.
Syed Naveed Qamar of the PPP criticised the government for violation of article 153 of the constitution by failing to set up the Council of Common Interests to settle inter-provincial issues like the Kalabagh dam and apportionment of water.
He also criticised the government for not implementing quota in provision of jobs and asked for bringing rationality into the process by cutting down number of employments to those provinces which had already received more then their due.
Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani of the MMA proposed the centre should keep only three subjects and hand over the rest to provinces to save huge expenses spent on federal establishment.
Shujaaul Mulk of the MMA and Khwaja Asif of the PML-N criticised huge allocations of funds for the NAB, saying the bureau had discouraged investment by intimidating entrepreneurs and promoted corruption by accepting plea bargains.
The PPP’s Nawab Yusuf Talpur said the huge cabinet had failed to show any performance and demanded its cutting to a medium size to save exchequer from wastage.
Earlier, the house, through consensus of treasury and opposition benches leaders, decided to club the cut motions and allow few of the movers to speak for two to three minutes. Every parliamentary party chose subjects for its members to speak on.
However, Chaudhry Nisar Ali, parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) objected to it, saying the debate should have been given more time, at least a month, which was the parliamentary practice.
Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain said: “It was a decision of the house business advisory committee (to extend budget passage process up to June 18).
