Govt drops plan to form body on businessmen’s NAB cases – Newspaper

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet, which met Monday under Prime Minister Imran Khan, made some important decisions, passed an ordinance on the formation of a regulatory authority in real estate and called a meeting of the provinces to reduce the dizzying prices of The essential items.

The cabinet, which usually meets on Tuesdays, met a day earlier, as Prime Minister Khan will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as part of his efforts to ease the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia. He visited Tehran on Sunday, offering Iranian leaders to play the role of facilitators to resolve the differences between the two Muslim countries.

The cabinet decided to abandon its plan to form a committee on the cases of the business community and threw the ball to the National Responsibility Office (NAB) court and now it would depend on the anti-theft agency how it would handle those cases and deny an impression of "harassment" .

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Information, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, said at a press conference following the cabinet meeting that Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered the authorities involved to take steps to control basic food prices. He called a high-level meeting attended by the four main ministers on Friday to design a strategy to control inflation that had risen 11.4 percent year-on-year in September.

"The cabinet members decided that the provincial price committees will be activated and the elements responsible for price fluctuation and hoarding will be treated strictly," added Dr. Awan.

It has been observed that the prices of consumer items, vegetables and fruits have risen unprecedented in recent weeks, adding more misery to people already affected by inflation.

The prime minister also ordered interested officials to keep the prices of life-saving medicines. The meeting was informed that a summary was being moved to reduce the prices of 89 medications.

Regulation organism

The SAPM said the cabinet had passed an ordinance under which a Real Estate Regulatory Authority would be formed to control the unplanned growth of private housing societies, put them under the tax network and safeguard the investment of people in them. .

He said the authority would also ensure that there was no artificial increase in the prices of plots in housing societies and that the land rate in one society was not very different from the other. “Housing societies should work under some rules and regulations. We want to turn this disparity into parity to safeguard people's investments in real estate, "he added.

NAB-entrepreneurs

Dr. Awan said that the cabinet abandoned the idea of ​​forming a committee composed of the best businessmen and industrialists to deal with the cases presented by NAB against businessmen and investors. Now, the meeting decided that it would be up to NAB to deal with cases of businessmen and eliminate the impression of harassment, he added.

Azadi March

Speaking about the opposition's Azad March march in the federal capital on October 31, the SAPM said Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was being used by others main opposition parties: the Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP) and Muslim League of Pakistan (PML-N).

She claimed that Maulana Fazl had already seen a lack of public support since she could not become a member of parliament after a long time. "The people, who have already rejected the Maulana, will not demonstrate in their call for agitation against the government," he added.

Ms. Awan said there was some crack in the PML-N since its supreme leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Shahbaz Sharif had differences. "PML-N feels so insecure that at its meeting held on Monday, all members were asked to keep their cell phones out of the meeting room so that no internal discussion could be shared," he said.

The cabinet approved the decisions made by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) recently.

The SAPM said Prime Minister Khan had entrusted cabinet members in his recent visits to China and Iran and informed them of his efforts to facilitate better relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

On the issue of better use of Evacuee Trust Property land, the cabinet was informed that the Evacuee Trust Property Board had recovered 1,262 acres of land during the past year. The cabinet approved the appointment of board members under the Health Care Act, as well as the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Ordinance, he said.

Dr. Awan said the cabinet also approved a policy regarding Langar Khanas [free meal places]. According to the policy, the program will be implemented under a public-private partnership to expand its reach.

The cabinet suspended matters related to six other ordinances.

When asked why the government was determined to enact laws through ordinances even though Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had lamented the last PML-N government for doing so, Dr. Awan told Dawn after the press conference: "In fact, the opposition wants something from Muk Muka [dealing] with us and, therefore, does not allow us to pass bills in parliament. "

Posted on Dawn, October 15, 2019