Daily Times

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan on Friday apprised the Senate that currently the inflation stood at 9.8 per cent in the country adding that in next three to four months it would be further decreased.

Replying to various questions during Question Hour, the minister said the government was making all out efforts to keep the inflation minimum. Giving comparison with Iran and Turkey, he said that inflation in Iran stood at 35.7 per cent and in Turkey it was 21.1 per cent. He said the farmers got highest rates and their revenue jumped to Rs1100 billion for the first time in history of Pakistan. Tractors and motorbike sales also registered sharp increased, he added.

The minister said that the sugar mills industry has been directed to start crushing season in time in order to provide maximum benefits to the farmers. Regarding rupee’s depreciation, Ali Muhammad Khan said the rupee witnessed around 40 per cent depreciation in last three years while it was depreciated around 100 per cent during past tenures of PML-N and PPP.

He said the government did not borrow single penny from State Bank of Pakistan. Due to various international factors, rupee was depreciated, he added.

He said the PML-N government artificially kept rupee stable through borrowing dollars from SBP.

The minister said the government was importing wheat and sugar to ensure their smooth supply at reasonable prices. He said the government was also working on maintaining strategic reserves of wheat, sugar, ghee, and pulses. He said it has been decided to release wheat at the rate of Rs1950 per 40 kilograms to ease out its price and ensure smooth supply in the market and flour mills would provide a 20 kg bag for 1,100 rupees. He said all provincial governments were releasing wheat at the government-determined price.

He said sugar price has been set at Rs90 per kilogram. Besides, cash subsidies were also being provided to the poor people on essential food items.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan on Friday informed the Senate that the incumbent government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was going to carryout 7th Population and Housing Census during the current year for the first time in country’s history after five years.

Replying to various supplementary questions during Question Hour, the minister said the process of 7th Population and Housing Census-2022 (1st Digital Census) has been initiated, adding that a Pilot Census would be conducted w.e.f May 15, 2022 to June 15, 2022 and complete Field Operation (Face to Face interviews) from August 1, to August 31, 2022 tentatively.

He said as many as six censuses had been carried out in the country since 1947. The first census was carried out in 1951, second in 1961, third in 1972, fourth 1981, fifth in 1997 and sixth in 2017. He assured the House that state of the art methodology would be used to ensure accuracy and transparency in the census. The total amount spent on the National Census in year 2017 was Rs16.884 billion, he added. He said firstly, the chief minister Sindh made some observations/ recommendations on March 10, 2017 for smooth field operations of Census 2017.

Later after census activity observations were made on census 2017 results by the Sindh chief minister in the Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting held on November 13, 2017 and therein it was decided to conduct third party validation of 1% blocks. In the CCI meeting of November 24, 2017 it was enhanced to 5% of the blocks furthermore, the chief minister of Sindh opposed the approval of final results of Census-2017 in 45th meeting of CCI held on April 12, 2021, however on the recommendation of Cabinet Committee the results were approved by CCI with the majority votes and directed to start process for the next census at the earliest while adopting best international practices and technology usage.

The minister said the Sindh CM on May 29, 2021 while using its constitutional right under Article 154 (7) submitted a reference to the Parliament on the above mentioned CCI’s decision for its placement before the joint session and accordingly during joint session held on November 17, 2021 the reference was considered wherein the CCI’s decision was approved with majority votes.