Govt spent Rs217m on 21-day Faizabad sit-in

ISLAMABAD: The Faizabad sit-in staged by the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan and other protests on Khatam-e-Nabuwat issue caused an extra expense of at least Rs217 million on national exchequer.

According to budget document, the federal government spent an amount of Rs127 million on law enforcement agencies during the Jamaat-e-Islami protest and Long March of Khatam-e-Nabuwat while an additional Rs90 million was spent on Rapid Response Force (RRF) of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) deployed at Islamabad on the request of ICT administration.

The 21-day-long sit-in by religious protesters at Islamabad’s Faizabad Interchange finally came to an end on November 27 when the Law Minister Zahid Hamid resigned following an agreement between Tehreek-e-Labbaik and the government. The protesters disrupted life in twin cities and caused massive economic losses in addition to loss of several lives.

Also the budget document revealed that the government had to pay a separate amount of Rs150 million to Pakistan Ranger Punjab as payment of Internal Security Duty Allowance, the budget document for the year 2018-19 revealed. The government paid an additional amount of Rs4.335 billion to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Separately, Pakistan Rangers Punjab received Rs1.7 billion additional grant during the outgoing fiscal year while Pakistan Rangers Sindh received Rs500 million additional grant during the same period.

Another amount of Rs200 million was spent from the federal budget on purchase of uniform, liveries, drugs and medicines for Pakistan Rangers Punjab. The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) Islamabad was given Rs500 million additional budget this year, the document says.

National Response Centre for Cyber Crimes received an additional grant of Rs73 million during the current fiscal year. An amount of Rs30.4 million was spent on extension and renovation of FIA building.