Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Tuesday said the federal cabinet has approved an agreement between the Ministry of Housing and Akhuwat Islamic Microfinance in an effort to build five million housing units for the low-income people.
Flanked by Minister for Law Farogh Naseem here at a press conference, she said under the accord, a fund of Rs 5 billion will be utilized to give interest-free loans of Rs 100,000 to Rs 1 million to the poor people. Priority will be given to those homeless people who are registered under the ‘poverty score card survey’, she added.
Dr Firdous said the cabinet also approved an internship programme under which the Ministry of Communications will give technical training and employment to some 35,000 students every year. She said the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved solar power projects to meet electricity needs of army on build-operate-transfer basis.
The cabinet was informed that a pilot project has been started to connect farmers and markets for sale of everyday items and to end the role of the middlemen. A mobile application has been prepared to provide information to the people about the rates of items of essential use, including fruits and vegetables. In the first phase, the app has been launched for different sectors of Islamabad and later on the project will be expanded to other big cities.
In order to bring transparency in governance, the cabinet also decided to provide all information about its decisions to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on its request.
The cabinet approved the appointment of honorary members for the Trust for Voluntary Organization.
The prime minister said the Supreme Court will be asked to review its decision about the condition of advertisement for appointment on honorary posts in policy boards.The cabinet also approved the board of directors for Inter-State Gas Company and appointment of Asjad Imtiaz Ali as member of Indus River System Authority. It also gave go ahead for amendment in The Drugs (Licensing, Registering and Advertising) Rules, 1976.
The cabinet gave its assent for an agreement between Pakistan and India for implementation of Kartarpur Corridor project. The prime minister directed the officers of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others to provide all possible facilities to the Sikh pilgrims, who will visit Kartarpur. The project will be inaugurated on November 9.
Dr Firdous said the opposition targeted her in a press conference after she gave facts about the health of Nawaz Sharif. She said when Nawaz Sharif was being shifted to hospital from the NAB office in Lahore, his workers were burning tyres and chanting slogans while carrying party flags. She assured the government will never do politics on the health of a person.
She condemned the language used by the opposition leaders against her, saying in reality the opposition is doing politics on disease of Nawaz Sharif. He was taking unhealthy food with a dose of two Loprin tablets which thinned the blood that can reduce the platelets, she claimed.
Dr Firdous refuted the allegations of the opposition that Nawaz Sharif was poisoned. “Corruption is a poison in itself and Prime Minister Imran Khan is determined to root out that virus,” she added. She wished early recovery of Nawaz Sharif and said platelets have been transfused so their count can increase in his body. She said it is strange that Nawaz Sharif was waving to his supporters when he was brought to the hospital. “Our political competition is with a healthy Nawaz Sharif,” she said, adding that according to the version of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Shehbaz Sharif persuaded Nawaz to go to hospital and that he only came out when his supporters gathered outside.
Referring to the defeat of Pakistan People’s Party in Larkana bye-elections, she said the people defeated the party which should be an eye-opener for it. She said the government will complete its tenure. The opposition should not make the parliament and people hostage, she said, and stressed the need to recover the looted public money.
She criticized the march of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, saying it has overshadowed the nation’s narrative on Kashmir. “Kashmiris are giving immense sacrifices and the narrative on Kashmir, which was being highlighted for the last three weeks, has gone into the background as the television screens showed the jathas of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam at a time when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was considering to put Pakistan in grey or black list,” she added.
