Interior ministry told to carry out scrutiny of names on ECL: Fawad
The information minister said ECL contains names of more than 3,000 people.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday ordered the interior ministry to carry out scrutiny of names on the Exit Control List in order to remove unnecessary placements.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while addressing a press conference after cabinet session said the list contains names of more than 3,000 people.
He said the government will decide whether to remove the names of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz from ECL if it received a formal request in this regard.
Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif will be brought to the extraordinary session of the National Assembly after relaxation in assembly rules, he added.
Five million housing programme
The minister said that the cabinet discussed at length the procedure and course of action for the newly launched ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Programme’ by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He said it was decided that state lands would be kept as collateral to banks while people will build their houses on that land.
“We have retrieved thousands of kanals of land from encroachment mafia which will be utilised for this purpose, in addition to spare lands owned by some government departments.
“Apna Ghar Authority will start working in two months’ time to build five million houses for people as promised in the PTI manifesto,” he added.
New PIA chief
Fawad Chaudhry said the cabinet decided to appoint Air Vice-Marshal Arshad Khan as PIA chief to oversee affairs of the national airline. “PIA is under a debt burden of 406 billion rupees with a monthly operational loss of two billion rupees,” he added.
“Advertisements have been placed in media for appointment of new CEO of the airline. A restructuring plan of the PIA has also been submitted to finance minister.”
He added that the cabinet has decided to investigate construction cost of New Islamabad International Airport that exceeded from thirty eight billion rupees to more than one hundred billion rupees.
The minister said that the cabinet also asked the National Accountability Bureau to expedite process of investigation in order to bring the culprits to justice.
Pending PSM salaries
He said the cabinet also gave approval to appointment of Aun Abbas as new MD Pakistan Baitul Maal. A new chairman of Privatisation Commission has also been approved, he added.
Fawad Chaudhry said the cabinet also accorded approval to constitute a committee headed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood that will look into the matters of K-Electric and Shanghai Electric.
The cabinet also gave approval to the salaries of employees of Pakistan Steel Mills for the month of August, he added.
