Cabinet extends Afghan refugees stay till June 30

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet Friday allowed an extension in the stay of Afghan refugees holding the Proof of Registration (POR) cards till June 30. “The cabinet approved extension in the stay of Afghan refugees from April 1 to June 30 this year, enabling cardholders to avail themselves of schools, bank accounts and other facilities in Pakistan,” said a statement issued by the PM Media Wing after the cabinet meeting.

The decision to extend the stay of Afghan nationals was taken on a summary moved by the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (Safron).

The POR cardholders would be repatriated in the third phase of the ongoing repatriation programne of illegal foreigners, while the first phase of foreigners having no identification documents is in progress.

The federal cabinet on a summary of the Ministry of Law and Justice allowed the constitution of an additional anti-narcotics court in Makran. The court’s jurisdictions would extend to Panjgur, Kech, Gwadar, Hub and Lasbela.

The cabinet directed the ministry that judges having good reputation should be appointed to the anti-narcotics court to ensure expeditious trials.

The secretary privatization apprised the cabinet of progress in PIA’s privatization. The meeting was informed that some private parties had shown interest. The cabinet maintained that transparency should be ensured in the whole process.

The meeting was also briefed by the secretary aviation on the measures taken to improve facilities at airports across the country, especially Lahore and Karachi.

The meeting was apprised that as part of improvement in facilities, the number of service counters at different airports had been increased.

The meeting was told that consultations with all the stakeholders were in the final stage on the use of drone technology in the agriculture sector.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir Friday said the entire nation stood united as a team against the elements trying to obstruct peace and development of the country, maintaining that they will never succeed in their designs. “No attempt aimed at derailing the country’s economic progress will be tolerated,” he said while addressing the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) conference here.

Negative propaganda and social media trolls can’t distract us from working for the development and prosperity of the country, he said. He said complete independence and self-reliance was not possible without economic stability and called for rejecting the negative forces together and focus on Pakistan’s journey towards development and stability.

The COAS remarked that Pakistan was a blessed land with an industrious and resilient nation which needed to come together for national development. He assured that the army would continue to provide all possible support for the economic development of Pakistan and underscored that its efforts would contribute towards comprehensive national security and collective good of the nation. Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, civil and military officials involved in the national undertaking also attended the conference. The forum was briefed about the multi-faceted GPI initiatives and significant benchmarks achieved in a short span of time. The initiatives presented before the forum included, inter alia, establishment of model farms, water management schemes, technology innovations and investment partnerships aimed at ensuring food security and enhancing agricultural productivity in Pakistan. The federal ministers lauded the transformative initiative and underscored that agriculture was the lifeline of Pakistan. They hoped that GPI would introduce contemporary best practices in Pakistan’s agriculture sector.