The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Wednesday while taking up the bill on the Toshakhana (Management and Regulation ) Bill, 2022 directed the Addl. Secretary Cabinet Division to give briefing and report on the finality of the bill, otherwise the committee will pass the bill without further delay.
It was informed that the proposed Toshakhana Bill was considered by CCLC on 6-04-2023, whereupon members of the committee suggested some changes to the Bill. It was apprised that after the incorporation of these changes by the Law Division, the draft Bill shall be presented to the Cabinet for seeking approval to place it before the Parliament.
The new Toshakhana Procedure for Acceptance and Disposal of Gifts, 2023 was also tabled in the Committee which included that Cabinet Division will get the value of the gifts assessed from government sector experts in FBR. Cabinet Division will also get the value of gifts assessed by the private appraisers borne on its approved panel. The weapons will be assessed by experts of Pakistan Ordinance Factories wah instead of FBR. The private appraisers will be paid 5 pc of the evaluation cost of each gift or Rs. 5,000 whichever is less.
It was also included that gifts exceeding a monetary limit of up to USD 300 shall straight away become state /Toshakhana property to be deposited and disposed of according to Toshakhana procedure. This exemption, it included shall however not be available in case of antiques and gifts of intrinsic historical value; it was also included that gifts that cannot be retained, donated, or displayed shall be disposed of by periodical sales to the general public, to be arranged by Cabinet Division.
Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmad said that according to the bill drafted no one will be enabled to take free gifts from the government treasury, Senator Rukhsana Zuberi was of the view that expensive gifts should not be received from foreign countries which allows us further to do corruption and illegal acts. The matter was deferred for finality in the next meeting with the direction of the chair that no further delays on the subject matter should be made and all recommendations on the Toshakhana Bill are directed to be submitted to the Standing Committee after Eid.
A briefing by the Chairman Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NAPHDA) on the working and performance of the NAPHDA was also taken up. It was briefed that around 2 million people applied for Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme, and 926,288 applicants were successful in the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme which approved the construction of 168,224 houses So far 53,060 houses have been completed, and 27,819 houses are under construction.
The estimated expenditure on them is 306 billion rupees. Naya Pakistan Housing Authority Chairman Major General (Retd) Amir Aslam Khan briefed the committee that according to the constitution, all governments make arrangements to build houses for citizens of the country. After the establishment of the authority, 41,000 houses were constructed in one and a half years, he said.
He further said that the present government had ceased the new housing scheme because of the economic situation of the country. “No development in Sindh has accepted any of our proposals” stated, chairman Major General (retd) Amir Aslam Khan and said that the Sindh government has not cooperated in land digitization and refused to provide land data he said. He further apprised that the authority acts as a coordinator and the projects are done by the relevant authorities.
Standing Committee directs authority to make transparent lists for the construction of houses and said that we want deserving people to get housing and scheme facilities. The Committee directs to provide a transparent list of beneficiaries to the committee. The chairman committee lauded the working and performance of the NAPHDA and the committee assured to extend its full support in the future endeavors of the program.
The Bill titled “The Civil Servants (Amendment ) Bill, 2023” introduced by Senator Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Senator Hidayat Ullah, Senator Zeeshan Khan Zada, and Senator Dilawar Khan in the Senate sitting was deferred, with the directions to hold a meeting with the Establishment, the Senate Secretariat and the Law Division and remove the discrepancies as discussed in the last meeting on the matter of separation of powers of the President and that of the autonomous powers of the Chairman of the Senate and Speaker of the National Assembly be limited, similarly, the secretary FPSC requested to make part the FPSC in the consultation meetings keeping in view the matter of direct recruitment to a post in BPS -17 through Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), since both the revolve around the same issue.
The Chairman committee commented that the matter of recruitment of the senate employee from grade 17 is admitted however the matter may be clubbed with the consultation session and remove the nitty-gritty. The chairman committee deferred the matter till the next meeting.
A detailed presentation by the Chairman OGRA on the incident of LPG cylinder blasts in the country was also taken up. The chairman committee recommended holding meetings with the Ministry of Interior and finalizing the amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code of criminal procedure on the substandard manufacturing of LPG cylinders and illegal gas filling. The chairman of OGRA also briefed the committee on the enforcement activities in the LPG supply Chain. The matter was deferred for further report.
The meeting was attended by Senator Kamil Ali Khan, Senator Engr. Rukhsana Zuberi and Senator Hidayat Ullah. Special Secretariat Establishment, Secretariat FPSC, Chairman NEPRA, Chairman OGRA, and senior officials from the Cabinet Secretariat and Ministry of Law and Justice also attended the meeting.
