–Faraz says govt concerned about violation of SOPs, urges people to adopt precautionary measures to counter coronavirus
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday decided to amend relevant laws for appointments in various government departments, especially their heads, to induct best human resource in the public sector organisations.
Briefing the media about the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said that the PM had constituted a committee headed by Adviser on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, which would present its recommendations in that regard within one week. The PM directed Minister of Law and Justice Farogh Naseem to prepare draft amendments in the relevant laws like ESTA Code, Companies Act and Corporate Governance Rules, he added.
Faraz said that the cabinet was briefed on the progress made in the electoral reforms process.
Briefing about the salient features of the proposed reforms, Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Swati, formerly Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said that the recommendations made by the electoral reforms committee included timely delivery and announcement of election results, finalisation of the action plan by political parties four months before the election, time for delimitation of constituencies and permission to a candidate to appoint five agents.
“The presence of nominated representatives of respective candidates during vote counting, reforms regarding women quota, election expenses, basis of delimitation and steps to address the lacunas in the process, right of vote for expatriate Pakistanis and biometric voting were also part of the proposals,” he added.
Faraz said that the PM, while appreciating the proposals, said all the lacunas in the election laws would be addressed so that the people’s trust in the election process was restored and nobody could raise a finger on the transparency of election. “A transparent and credible electoral process was the foundation of democracy and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the only party which had taken serious efforts and practical steps for electoral reforms,” he added.
Expressing the government’s commitment, the minister said that the premier directed intensifying efforts so that electoral reforms process should be completed as soon as possible.
He said that the cabinet discussed the issue of unlawful appointments made in various ministries during the previous governments and it transpired that appointments without any cabinet approval were made in 12 ministries. “Expressing his serious concern, the prime minister directed all the ministries to share details in next cabinet meeting so that action could be taken on the issue,” he said.
The minister said that during the discussion on cotton crop, the prime minister directed that its support price should be fixed after thorough consultations with all the stakeholders in order to encourage the farmers to sow more cotton as its ratio had dropped during the past two decades.
The PM was in favour of giving subsidies on cotton seed and fertiliser, so that poor growers could benefit, he added.
Faraz said that the cabinet also approved the names of the members of National Commission on the Status of Women, including Shaista Bukhari from Punjab, Habiba Hassan from Sindh, Rubina Naz Advocate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Fatima Iqbal from Balochistan, Madhiha Sultana from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Sosan Aziz from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Asia Azeem from the federal capital.
The cabinet also approved the decisions taken by the Cabinet’s Committee on Energy and Economic Coordination Committee.
The minister said that the PM directed steps for provision of energy to the consumers at affordable rates and reduction of the circular debt. He said that the premier also directed the minister for energy to complete the process of reformation in various departments of the ministry with a time line.
Faraz said that the cabinet reviewed the matters pertaining to the audit survey regarding embezzlement at the Karachi Port Trust.
He said that Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar gave a briefing on the steps being taken to control the coronavirus in the country and presented the report on the situation after relaxation in the lockdown.
“Addressing the cabinet meeting, the prime minister said lockdown was a temporary process which could limit the spread of the virus to some extent but it was necessary to take precautionary measures as much as possible to avoid the pandemic. He told the meeting that the decision to ease the lockdown was taken keeping in view the economic situation and the plight of the common man, especially the daily wagers,” he said.
Faraz said that PM Imran remarked that activities in the construction and other sectors had even been allowed by the developed countries keeping in view the ground realities as keeping the economy afloat and balancing security measures was imperative.
He said it was observed during the meeting that generally the people did not adopt precautionary measures and the cabinet appealed to them to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) as the country could not afford surge in the coronavirus cases.
He said that there was need of a balance between economic activities and social distancing to run the country’s affairs of the country. It was the national responsibility of all citizens to observe social distancing as the countries, where the practice was followed by the citizens, had succeeded to control the pandemic to a great extent, he added.
The minister said that no state had unlimited resources to give subsidies and relief packages to their population for a long time. No country could afford continuous lockdown and the decision to ease the countrywide lockdown in Pakistan was taken in view of the difficulties being faced by poor labour class, he added.
“The government had limited resources and infrastructure, and continuous lockdown was not possible under the prevailing conditions,” he concluded.
