Dar gives Rs1 million to family of dead teacher

New Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua calls on minister

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar has announced special compensation worth one million rupees for the family of Abdul Qadir, an official deputed on census duty, who died in a fatal accident in village Neen Ban, Mansehra District, last week. 

According to an announcement of Finance Ministry on Monday stating that Abdul Qadir, a primary school teacher, who hailed from village Khun Shakoora, district Mansehra, was on census duty when the accident took place. He is survived by a widow, four sons, two daughters and ageing parents.

Minister Dar has expressed deep sense of grief over the tragic death of Abdul Qadir and sympathised with the bereaved family, praying to Allah Almighty for granting them fortitude to bear the loss with equanimity.

In another meeting, Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting here on Monday to review the progress of various economic reforms being carried out by the government. The minister reviewed the ongoing structural reforms in key areas of the economy, including energy sector, public sector enterprises and investment climate. 

Finance Secretary Tariq Bajwa briefed the minister on the latest status of various reform measures and their implementation. He shared the progress in the key areas of the economy and highlighted the publication of Public Sector Enterprises Report, work on the Circular Debt Plan and the National Doing Business Reform Strategy. 

Finance Minister Dar expressed his satisfaction over the progress of reforms and said that the dividends of these reforms were already visible. He emphasised the importance of timely implementation of various decisions, so that the desired objectives can be achieved within the planned timeframe. He desired that compendium of reforms implemented since 2013 be updated to properly reflect the reforms over the last three years. The minister also instructed that a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council may be convened to discuss the budgetary proposals for enhancing growth. He said implementation of ongoing work may be expedited through coordination with concerned government ministries. 

The meeting was attended by finance secretary, secretary EAD and senior officials of Finance Division.  In another separate meeting, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua paid a courtesy call on Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here on Monday, after assuming her new responsibilities.  The minister felicitated Ms Janjua on her appointment as the first woman Foreign Secretary and hoped that she would utilise her rich experience of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy to further the interests of the country in the international arena. 

On the occasion Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Ms. Janjua exchanged views on the steps taken by the present government for betterment of the economy and improving security environment. 

The minister said that with concerted efforts the country had been able to achieve macroeconomic stability and was now well set on the path to growth and employment generation. He said the stable economic situation had greatly encouraged foreign investors as well as overseas Pakistanis to explore business and investment opportunities in the country. He said that against that backdrop it was important to have greater engagement with the Pakistani diaspora and foreign investors and facilitate them in exploring business and investment opportunities in Pakistan.