Islamabad - Convener of the Subcommittee of the Senate Standing Committee Mir Kabeer has said that 93 percent of people of Balochistan are without gas whereas 88 percent are without electricity.
The subcommittee of the senate standing committee on Planning Development and Reforms that met with Senator Mir Kabeer observed that after the approval of the PSDP 2019-20, members of the Senate Standing Committees on Planning had recommended to add their new schemes to the developmental portfolio but they were clearly told that since the PSDP had been approved therefore no new schemes can become part of it.
Ironically 42 new projects were added to the PSDP after its approval, he said. Senator Mir Kabeer said that on the issue of adding new projects to the PSDP the planning had misstated and lied to committee. The committee asked the officials of the ministry of Planning with whom consent these project had been added to the PSDP after approval? The committee further directed to provide the cost and locations of the 42 projects to the next meeting of the committee. The standing committee on planning had constituted a subcommittee to probe the matter of adding 42 unapproved projects worth 17 billion to the developmental portfolio after the approval of federal PSDP.
The sub Committee of the standing committee is probing the motives behind adding 40 unapproved projects to the PSDP after the approval of the Developmental Portfolio.
Senator Mir Kabeer said that these days there is severe cold in Balochistan with the provincial capital temperature touching minus 4 but Students of a government schools in Quetta were compelled to give exams on floor. If this was the situation of the provincial metropolitan then what will be the condition of other areas of the province, he maintained. Talking about the province which is providing gas to the rest of Pakistan for decades, the senator said that that currently 93 percent of the province is without natural gas supply while 88 percent are without electricity.
Senator Usman Kakar said that 42 unapproved projects were added to the PSDP to reward one political party. He said that NAB and all the other departments are silent over this irregularity. On the other senator Kakar remarked that funding to the ongoing project in the province has been stopped.
The committee took strong notice of the absence of the Federal Minister for Planning Development and Reforms and secretary of the Ministry and as a protest deferred the meeting. Convener of the committee said that Secretary Planning has informed the subcommittee about his absence but there is not information about the absence of Federal Minister of Planning.
Convener of the subcommittee said that it is not good to ignore the Parliamentary committees.