KP Assembly asks Centre to withdraw airport tax

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution asking the federal government to withdraw the airport tax recently imposed on expatriate Pakistanis.
Presented by parliamentary leader of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Sikandar Sherpao, the resolution was signed by Law Minister Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, MPA Shah Hussain of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Syed Jaffar Shah of Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Salim Khan, Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP)’s Muhammad Ali Khan and QWP’s Bakht Baidar Khan.
Adopted unanimously, the resolution read that poor Pakistani labourers were contributing to the national economy by sending billions of rupees remittances every year and imposing tax on them was unjustified.
It asked the government to facilitate the Pakistanis working in foreign countries instead of taxing them as majority of them belonged to poor families.
The House unanimously passed the resolution.
Law Minister Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi on behalf of the chief minister introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Servants (amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Provincial Services Academy (amendment) Bill, 2015.
He also introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Foundation, Bill, 2015 on behalf of the health minister.
Provincial Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Journalists Welfare Endowment Fund (amendment) Bill, 2015.
The amendment to the Bill proposed an increase in the amount for medical treatment of deserving journalists from Rs20,000 to Rs100,000. The claim must be supported by vouchers or invoices verified by a registered medical practitioner or government health authority.
Speaker Asad Qaiser referred to the concerned committee a call attention notice by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha and JUI-F’s Hussain Shah.
The notice diverted the attention of the House towards providing wrong information under the Right to Information Act.
Presenting the call attention notice, Aurangzeb Nalotha said that some government departments were providing wrong information and misguiding those seeking information under the Right to Information Act.
Quoting a case, he said the concerned authorities provided wrong information about allotment of a house to a gardener of the provincial assembly.
He said the house was allotted to the poor employee in September 2014 on paper, but he was neither issued an allotment order nor given its possession by the department.
He added that those providing wrong information should be brought to justice.
The Speaker referred it to the concerned committee.
Earlier, the newly elected Member Provincial Assembly from PK-93 Upper Dir, Sahibzada Sanaullah of the PPP took oath.
He was warmly received by his colleagues on arrival at the assembly.
Taking the floor, Sanaullah thanked the House and his voters. He said his success was the victory of the poor workers.
He criticised Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) without naming it along with its allies and said the government machinery and resources were utilised in the by-election in his constituency.
However, he said the ideological workers of JI, QWP and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) voted for him.
He thanked the ANP and JUI-F for supporting him and appealed to the chief minister to visit the constituency to observe the poor condition of the infrastructure in the area. The Speaker adjourned the session till October 5.