ISLAMABAD: Members of National Assembly on Tuesday demanded enhancing the ratio of direct taxes, decreasing indirect taxes, increasing government employees’ salaries by 20 per cent and setting up a new housing scheme for the government employees.
Taking part in the budget debate in National Assembly, Muttahida Qaumi Movement parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar called for withdrawal of taxes on stationary items.The government employees’ salaries should be enhanced by 20 per cent and minimum wages of labourers should be fixed at Rs20,000 per month, he added.
He said the federation should be authorised to collect agriculture tax from provinces. Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) should be converted into Benazir Income Generation Programme.
Asad Umar of PTI claimed that the economic growth ratio of country was 4.3pc during the last financial year. Foreign direct investment had also decreased, he added. Quoting Planning Commission figures, he claimed that 1.5 million youth were unemployed in the country. Only 300MW power was added in last three years. Taxes on electricity and gas should be reduced, he demanded. The ratio of GST, he said should be decreased to 15pc.
Chief of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the farmers should be paid the actual price of their produce.Sardar Awais Leghari appreciated the government for achieving last year’s budgetary targets which contributed to strengthening the country’s economy.
He said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would bring prosperity in South Asia.Leghari said the agriculture package announced in the current budget would significantly improve agri-produce.
Subsidy in the agriculture sector would reduce the cost of production and benefit the farmers of the country worth Rs100 billion.He, however, said there was a need to introduce further packages in the agriculture sector in the next fiscal year to make the country self-sufficient in this field. He said the government had not made any claim to make everything perfect in the country but one could see significant improvement in different sectors.
Leghari emphasised the need to focus on water and research sector to further strengthen the agriculture sector.The government he said should expand the tax net for economic stability. Preventive health system should be introduced to facilitate the general public, he added.
Sahibzada Tariqullah said the budget targets of outgoing fiscal year could not be achieved. The government should introduce a policy to get rid of foreign loans in the budget proposals.He emphasised the need to conduct census in the country to identify the real challenges and for fair distribution of resources among the provinces. He said there was also need to strengthen the foreign policy.
He alleged that the provinces were ignored in the Public Sector Development Projects (PSDP) projects.Dr Azra Afzal underlined the importance to improve tax net for strengthening the economy. The country should depend on direct tax collection rather than indirect ones to create employment opportunities, he added. She said there was a need to bring reforms in the FBR structure to achieve the tax collection targets.
Participating in the budget debate, Rajab Ali Khan Baloch criticised the Pakistan People’s Party government for not starting the construction of any dam in its five-year tenure from 2008 to 2013. He said accountability was imperative but the hands of those who were demanding the process should be clean.
The government was paying respectable stipends to 5.6 million poor of the poorest through the BISP, he added.Junaid Akbar said the people of Malakand division were deprived of basic rights. Customs Act, he said had recently been extended to the division.
Naeema Kishwar appreciated the budget proposals. She, however, said census should have been conducted before the budget for prudent allocations of resources. Likewise, NFC Award should have also been announced, she added.
She called for increasing minimum pension up to Rs14,000 per month. Various social safety programmes she said should be integrated under one umbrella for good results.Identical programmes including Pakistan Baitul Mal medical assistance Health insurance and others should be merged.JI’s Sahibzada Yaqoob Khan demanded demanded a permanent solution for the issue of circular debt.
