Cabinet under PM meets: Authority being set up to keep record of state lands

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet was informed on Tuesday that the National Asset Management Authority was being set up to keep a complete record of the state lands, retrieval of the government properties from illegal occupation and ensure their efficient use.

The meeting, held with Prime Minister in the chair, was told that the draft law had been sent for approval of the Ministry of Law and afterwards, the process of giving final shape to drafting law would begin.

During the meeting proceedings, various ministers said that thousands of acres of land belonging to the government departments like Civil Aviation, Railways, etc. were under illegal occupation.

The cabinet was informed that the government lands worth billions of rupees had been retrieved in the last two-and-a-half years. The meeting was informed that land worth Rs210 billion had been retrieved in Punjab so far. The cabinet was told that unfortunately the qabza mafia was sponsored at official level in the past governments, and some political parties were involved in illegal occupation of state lands. So far, 8,000 acres of land worth Rs24 billion had been handed over to 36 political figures. Details of various personalities belonging to the previous government and the lands retrieved from their possession were presented before the meeting.

The cabinet was informed about the formation of a cabinet committee on missing persons. The cabinet directed the committee to formulate its recommendations within six weeks. Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government was committed to a permanent solution to the issue of missing persons so that no incident of missing persons could take place during the tenure of the present government.

The cabinet was briefed on the progress made so far in various ongoing projects under New Pakistan Housing Scheme, especially in providing personal shelter to low-income people. Details of various incentives provided by the government in respect of houses, including tax incentives, bank financing, mark-up subsidies, facilitation of approval process and foreclosure law were given.

The cabinet was told that more than half of the mark-up money was being provided by the government. The government had provided Rs36 billion in subsidies. The cabinet was informed that about 650 projects were approved in Punjab province in three to four months. In Sindh, the number was 19 so far.

Chairman New Pakistan Housing Development Authority said that after the concessions given by the government, the private sector was showing keen interest in construction projects. Apart from public lands, 57 proposals have been received so far for construction of housing units under public-private partnership on private lands, out of which 34 projects had been approved. Under these projects, more than 63,000 units would be constructed on more than 20,000 kanals of land.

In urban areas, there are 45 projects of more than 18,000 kanals agreed upon by the provinces. In addition, 23 more housing projects are under way.

The cabinet was informed that the Punjab province had provided 9,500 kanals of peri-urban land, on which 87 projects were under way. The cabinet was informed by the Ministry of Housing that as a result of commencement of work on projects, work was under way on 35,000 units worth Rs139.71 billion. Most of these projects would be completed in two years. As a result of projects, launched by the Ministry of Housing last and this year, a total of more than 136,000 units are being constructed and the total value of those projects was Rs657.49 billion (including units with pending projects). In addition, so far 229,295 housing units, valued at Rs830 billion, had been shown interest in construction projects by various companies which are being considered.

The housing secretary briefed the cabinet on the projects to be launched in different parts of the country. He also informed about the plans for urban regeneration.

The prime minister said that details of housing and construction projects, initiated by the district administration in all the districts, should be obtained. The cabinet approved a policy to run 200 buses, provided by the government for school children under the Prime Minister's Education Reforms Programme. Under the policy, the school management committee of the schools concerned would look after these buses.

Under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2017 (Alternative Settlement Law), the cabinet approved the formation of a panel consisting of the neutral persons:- Justice (retd) Maulvi Anwarul Haq; Tahir Abbasi, Advocate Supreme Court; Shereen Imran, Advocate Supreme Court; Humaira Masihuddin, Advocate Supreme Court; Hafiz Arafat Ahmed, Advocate; Dear Hadia, Advocate; and Natalia Kamal, Advocate.

The meeting endorsed the decisions taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on CPEC on January 26, 2021. The decisions taken at the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee on January 28, 2021 were also ratified.

During the meeting, decisions were taken on key issues such as effective government subsidy system, visitor management policy and tariff rationalisation for power sector in the basic necessities under the Prime Minister's Relief Package.

The meeting also ratified the decisions taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Legislation on January 21, 2021. The cabinet approved the appointment of Dr Samih Khan and Prof Dr Arshad Javed to the two vacant posts of members of the Board of Governors under the Federal Medical Teaching Institute Ordinance 2020.

The cabinet also approved the setting up of a committee comprising Minister for Railways, Minister for Privatisation, Adviser on Institutional Reforms, Secretary Finance and Secretary Law to implement the directions of the Supreme Court on the issue of lease of railway lands in Karachi.

The cabinet approved deployment of Frontier Corps Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa during by-elections to National Assembly seat NA-45 (Kurram-I) and Provincial Assembly seat PK-63. The cabinet approved in principle the recommendations of the Cabinet Committee on Facilitation of Visa Policy. The cabinet was informed that for the first time in the history of the country, Pakistani visas are being made online for 192 countries.