Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan has assured the Lower House of the Parliament that all the stranded Pakistanis in Europe and the Middle East will be brought to the country by July 20.
Taking the floor of the house on Friday, the minister said that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has operated special flights to bring overseas Pakistanis to the country from the Middle Eastern Region. By now, 54,116 stranded Pakistanis have been brought to the country in a dignified manner. He said those in Europe and the UK are also being transported to the country through chartered flights.
Khan said that overseas Pakistanis are Pakistan’s precious asset and they are contributing immensely to the country’s economy. He said their remittances reached $29 billion during the last fiscal year.
Responding to a calling attention notice, Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said that several projects have been initiated in different cities under Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme to provide low cost houses to the common man. Construction of forty five thousand housing units is underway and work on them will be completed in eighteen months’ time.
Awan said that loans on low interest rates are also being provided to the people to construct houses. He said the banks have so far received 33,506 loan applications amounting to Rs110 billion. He said that loans worth Rs35 billion have been approved.
Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Malik Anwar Taj laid before the house the Pakistan Maritime Zones Bill, 2021.
The opposition staged a walkout during the session as the government refused to agree to its demand of postponing exams in the country. Before walking out, PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique said he had asked Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood to delay the exams in the country, but he is yet to hear from the government.
“If the government has not decided to delay the exams, then we should be informed as to why it plans on taking supplementary exams within 45 days?” he asked.
At this, Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Professional Training Wajiha Akram said that examinations have concluded in Balochistan, while they were underway in Sindh.
Responding to Akram, Rafique said this meant that the government does not want to speak to the opposition about postponing the examinations. Following Rafique’s statement, the opposition parties, along with PML-N, staged a walkout.
After the walkout, PML-N’s Sheikh Fayyaz-ud-Din pointed out a lack of quorum, following which, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, who was chairing the session, adjourned it till Monday.
The house will now meet on Monday at 4:30pm.
