ISLAMABAD: Infor­ma­tion Minister Fawad Chaudhry has warned that the country will face international sanctions if no action is taken against proscribed organisations.

He was speaking at a press conference held here on Thursday to inform the media about the decisions made by the federal cabinet earlier in the day.

According to the minister, the cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, decided to maintain national consensus forged during Pakistan-India standoff and keep the opposition on board over major national issues, including the ongoing crackdown against proscribed organisations.

The cabinet decided to set up a committee, to be headed by the prime minister and with representation of all parliamentary parties, to make decisions on vital national issues, including banned organisations.

Opposition to be taken on board over major issues, says Fawad

The information minister hinted that the action against proscribed organisations was being taken under international pressure as he said: “If we do not take action against them [the banned groups], we will have to face international sanctions and the cost of electricity, gas and businesses will go further up in the country.”

The cabinet was informed that under the current action against proscribed outfits, the security forces had taken 121 people under preventive detention.

The minister said the current action against banned outfits was being taken under the National Action Plan to counter terrorism.

Talking about recent Indian aggression against Pakistan, he said international press had endorsed Pakistan’s point of view and criticised the Indian government for putting (lives of) hundreds of thousands of people on the line only for the sake of wining coming general elections.

According to the interior ministry, in compliance with the NAP, the provincial governments have taken over control of 182 seminaries, 34 schools/colleges, five hospitals, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances and eight offices.

Reforms agenda

Fawad Chaudhry said the cabinet expressed satisfaction over the steady progress being made in critical areas such as legal reforms, introduction of new local government system to empower people at grassroots level, promotion of green growth, implementation of water initiatives, Fata reforms, Balochistan reconciliation, poverty alleviation, the Sarmaya-i-Pakistan programme and National Agriculture Emer­gency Programme.

The progress on police reforms, creation of southern Punjab province and Karachi development projects was also discussed.

On economic front, progress on revival of manufacturing and small and medium enterprises sectors, financial inclusion, the prime minister’s five million housing project, tourism, tax reforms, ease of doing business and energy sector was also reviewed by the cabinet.

Reforms in social sector — education, health and waste management system — were also reviewed.

Adviser on Climate Change Amin Aslam briefed the cabinet about the progress made in promoting the Green Growth Programme. He apprised the meeting about the progress over plantation of 150 million saplings in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa and Punjab during the current spring season. The cabinet was also briefed about the Karachi Green Line Metro Bus Project and the Recharge Pakistan Programme.

Prime Minister Khan underscored the need to highlight the importance of the Green Growth Programme to ensure involvement of all sections of society in combating environmental challenges faced by the country.

As a first step, he said, the government was making the federal capital a model city and later the capital’s model would be replicated in other major cities to overcome the challenges of urbanisation, depletion of green areas and waste management system and improving social sectors.

He said the local government bills should be tabled in the KP and Punjab assemblies at the earliest.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2019