Cabinet approves reimbursement of Rs2.5 billion to gas consumers

The cabinet also expressed sorrow and grief over tragic incident of terrorist attack in New Zealand

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Cabinet has given approval to reimburse Rs2.5 billion to gas consumers who received inflated bills.

This was stated by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain while briefing media about the cabinet decisions. Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The Minister said the cabinet took into view the issue of inflated gas bills and discussed measures to rectify the situation. He said 3.2 million gas consumers have been affected by exaggerated gas bills.

Fawad Ch went on to say that the government has decided to spend 290 billion rupees on agriculture, with 18 big schemes to be launched in the next five years, adding that during last 8 years, agricultural spending reduced by 60 percent negatively impacting this crucial sector of economy. “Our agricultural imports have reached to 4 billion dollars, which include 2 billion dollars of edible oil bill,” he said.

The information minister said that the cabinet decided to raise awareness among people to reduce the consumption of banaspati oil at households to save precious foreign exchange on import of edible oil, adding that in the new agri schemes, focus will be made on increasing per capita production, judicious use of water, and increased access to farming credits.

“As direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan livestock and fisheries sector will be given special attention as they have a huge export potential,” Fawad Chaudhry said and added the government has decided not to construct any building on the land used by Baba Guru Nanak for agricultural purposes in Kartarpur acccepting demand of the Sikh community.

The cabinet also expressed sorrow and grief over the tragic incident of terrorist attack on two mosques in New Zealand in which fifty persons were martyred. The minister said we need dialogue among civilizations to counter the hatred spread in West against Islam and Muslims. He said survival of human beings is only possible if they live in peaceful co-existence.

The minister said: “Cabinet decided to make necessary arrangements for the upcoming visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad who will visit Pakistan on the occasion of 23rd Mach, Pakistan Day. He said it is a continuation of visits of important world leaders to Pakistan after PTI came to power. He said Mahathir s visit to Pakistan is a great honor for us.”