Daily Times

The major opposition parties, particularly Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Wednesday staged protest after Prime Minister Imran Khan left the National Assembly session without addressing the lawmakers.

The prime minister was present in the House during the question hour but later left without delivering his address, which provoked the opposition lawmakers who were waiting for him to speak so that they could raise hue and cry.

The National Assembly was informed during the question hour that Naya Pakistan Housing Authority Bill will soon be laid before the parliament for approval. Minister for Housing Tariq Bashir Cheema told the House that this authority will provide one-window facility to the private sector to invest in this mega project for construction of five million houses. He said the prime minister has launched the housing projects in Islamabad, Quetta and Okara, and construction work on the sites will commence soon.

Cheema said that Rs 5 billion have been allocated to provide interest-free loans to those who cannot build their houses. He estimated that per unit cost of each housing unit under this project will be Rs 3 million. He said Rs 2.7 million will be provided to the people as loan through bank to construct the house.

Minister for Power Omer Ayub told the House that the government plans to install concentrated solar power plants in Balochistan. “For this purpose, we are also in negotiations with Saudi Arabia. We also plan to establish small water reservoirs in Balochistan,” he said, adding that unlike the previous governments, Prime Minister Imran Khan only inaugurates those projects for which funding is available.

Parliamentary Secretary for National Food Security Ameer Sultan told the House that present government has declared agriculture emergency in the country to enhance the productivity of this important sector. “We have allocated Rs 284 billion for 13 agriculture related projects to bolster the yield of major crops,” he added.

Responding to a calling attention notice, Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar told the House that the State Bank of Pakistan has started a scheme with the funding of World Bank to provide loans to the farmers below the market rates through microfinance banks. He said Rs 9 billion have been allocated for the purpose.

Meanwhile, four bills were introduced in the House. These include ‘The Islamabad Capital Territory Domestic Workers Bill, 2019’, ‘The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 (Article 51 and 59)’, ‘The Protection of Persons against Forced Religious Conversion Bill, 2019’, and ‘The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019’.

The House will now meet on Thursday (today) at 2 pm.