ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated to take every step to provide relief to the people who are facing the brunt of inflation in the country.
He said this while chairing a federal cabinet meeting here on Tuesday.
“The prime minister has reiterated his government’s commitment to tackle profiteers and hoarders, who are responsible for causing inflation issue in the country, with an iron hand,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said in her briefing soon after the cabinet meeting.
Imran Khan also directed the Ministry of National Food Security and related organizations to take allout measures for the smooth supply of edible items to people.
The prime minister said that action will be taken against those responsible for the recent flour crisis in the light of the recommendations of investigative report.
Firdous said that the cabinet also endorsed the decisions of its previous meeting and gave its nod on reduction in the price of Urea fertilizer by Rs. 395 per bag as relief to the farmers.
She further informed that the Prime Minister called an important meeting today to review the wheat stocks across the country and the mechanism of their assessing the wheat crop in the four provinces.
Dr. Firdous informed the media that the federal government, following serious concerns raised by PTI coalition partners from Sindh, had decided to make the appointment of new Inspector General Police (IGP) in the province in consultation with the provincial government.
The crucial decision was taken during the meeting of Federal Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan after some members expressed their reservations over the name of would-be new IGP agreed upon by the federal government and the Sindh government.
These members noted with serious concerns over the appointment and sought a neutral person as IGP who should not follow the dictates of the PPP Sindh government in targeting the political opponents in the province.
Taking a serious notice of their concerns, the Prime Minister dropped the appointment of Mushtaq Mahar as the new Sindh IGP and decided that a new appointment would be made in consultations between the Governor and the Chief Minister Sindh.
“It was decided by the Federal Cabinet to appoint a person for this top slot with consultation. The Prime Minister has directed the Sindh Governor to hold consultation the with provincial chief minister regarding names put forth for the appointment of IG Sindh,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said in her briefing soon after the cabinet meeting.
In a related development, Prime Minister Imran Khan summoned the incumbent IGP Kaleem Imam to the federal capital for a meeting after reservations expressed by his government allies.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said the federal cabinet decided to recover money of undue expenditures from former Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari within a month. He said if they fail to submit the amount to government, a legal action will be taken against them.
He said that the previous governments had burdened the country with a huge debt as they plundered the national wealth on their personal gains. He said that a loan of Rs 24,000 billion was taken during the tenures of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari.
He said that national institutions were pledged to take loans.
Murad Saeed said Sharif Brothers had established five camp offices apart from CM Office while former President Asif Ali Zardari had set up three camp offices.
The family installed barbed wire at a cost of 270 million rupees from national exchequer at their residence. He said that 2753 police personnel were dedicated for the security of Sharif family.