National News

ISLAMABAD, (APP): Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet
Secretariat on Tuesday unanimously approved “The Pakistan Bait-ul-Mall”
(Amendment) Bill-2016, moved by Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, Minister of State
for Parliamentary Affairs.
The meeting of the committee held here at old PIPS (Pakistan
Institute of Parliamentary Services) office, chaired by Senator
Muhammad Talha Mehmood.
The meeting was attended by its members including Shahi Syed,
Hidayat Ullah, Kamil Ali Agha, Ms. Najma Hameed, Haji Saifullah Khan
Bangash, Osman Saifullah Khan, Azam Khan Swati, Sassui Palijo and
Minister In-charge Cabinet Division Sheikh Aftab Ahmed.
Addressing the meeting, Sheikh Aftab highlighted the role
of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mall (PBM) in our society and said that the
PBM was carrying a number of people’s welfare projects particularly
Pakistan Sweet Homes and provision of financial assistance to the
patients.
Appreciating the PBM Bill, he expressed the confidence that
it would not only improve the efficiency of the Bait-ul-Mall but
also provide a broader spectrum of serving poor masses of the
society.
The members of the committee suggested that Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) should be included in the
welfare projects of the PBM.
The committee, during the meeting, also discussed “Oil & Gas
Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2015” moved by Senator Sassui
Palijo.
The committee categorically recommended that merit should be
strictly observed while inducting people in OGRA. However, the
members of the committee suggested that the clause indicating merit
needs to be further elaborated.
The committee asked ERRA (Earthquake Reconstruction &
Rehabilitation Authority) officials to submit a detailed report
about overall expenditures and funds received by the authority
since its inception.
The ERRA senior officials briefed the committee about the
amount spent by ERRA in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Mansehra, Abottabad,
Battagram, Kohistan and other areas for carrying out rehabilitation
and reconstruction work after the 2005 earthquake.
They informed that an amount of Rs. 68259.174 million has so
far been incurred in the rehabilitation of the earthquake affected
areas of districts Abbottabad, Mansehra, Balakot, Shangla, and
Kohistan. The amount includes government funds and foreign donations,
they added.
The officials negated that any funds meant for these districts
were either diverted or used in any other area. They further said
that out of 14,512 projects, ERRA has so far completed more than
10,000 projects which included education, environment, governance,
roads, health, livelihood, telecommunication etc. against an
expenditure of Rs.244 billion.
The meeting concluded when the NEPRA (National Electricity
Power Regulatory Authority) officials were giving briefing about
the overall working and performance of the Authority.