ISLAMABAD, Aug 16: Minister Incharge of the Cabinet Division Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi on Thursday informed the National Assembly that the total income of the famous Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad during the last three years was Rs53.23 million while its expenditure remained Rs23.85 million during the period.

Dr Afgan gave the reply on the instruction of Deputy Speaker Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob following a protest by the opposition members on August 10, when Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq refused to give a reply to the question, saying the shrine was not under the control of his ministry and the reply should have come from the ministry of interior.

The opposition members said the same question, submitted by Ishrat Ashraf of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was deferred during the previous session when the interior ministry had not come up with the reply.

The deputy speaker, who was presiding over the session, had stated that as both the ministries of interior and religious affairs were not ready to take responsibility for the shrine, he was handing over the matter to the cabinet division with the directive to submit the reply as early as possible.

The PML-N MNA through her question had inquired about the year-wise income of the shrine since 2003. She had also asked the minister to give details of the expenditure incurred on the shrine and the total number of Khadmeen presently working there.

Giving a breakdown, the minister said the income of the shrine was Rs15.56 million in 2003-04, Rs18.88 million in 2004-05 and Rs18.78 million in 2005-06. He said the expenditure on the shrine was Rs8.1 million in 2003-04, Rs5.67 million in 2004-05 and Rs10.07 million in 2004-05.

OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT: In a written reply to a question of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s MNA Inayat Begum, Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 233,786 persons had been sent abroad for employment from July 2006 to June 2007.