PESHAWAR: Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)-led coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is dragging its feet on slashing the expenditures of Governor’s House and the governor and his staff members. During the first four months of the current financial year an amount of more than Rs100m has been spent on the Governor’s House.
The budget documents of the provincial government negate the pledges of PTI leaders, who during their election campaign and subsequently kept strongly advocating slashing the expenditures of the Governor’s House. They also promised converting the palatial Governor’s House into a ladies park but to no avail.
The documents show that the provincial government allocated Rs427.16m for the expenditures of the Governor’s House, including salaries, vehicles and petrol charges, special allowances, and many other heads during the current financial year.
Senate to set up think tank
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Secretariat is contemplating to form a “Think Tank of MPs” under Senate’s Administration Strategic Plan to improve functions of the Pakistani parliament and to review the existing laws and propose repealing obsolete laws and amending laws which need to be updated in view of new realities.
Senate Chairman Nayyer Bokhari had given an approval to the proposal last month for soft launch in the Senate Secretariat. The think tank is the brainchild of Bokhari, who tasked Secretary Senate Amjed Malik to submit a proposal for setting up a “Think Tank of Parliamentarians”.
The proposals was put forth and approved by the chairman Senate. Secretary Senate also wrote to sitting as well as retired senators requesting them to send their input for the formation of the forum.
According to the draft, the think tank will prepare up to date database of members of parliament mentioning the areas of expertise/excellence of distinguished parliamentarians from whom the parliamentary institutions can benefit.
22 officials may be sacked
PESHAWAR: The government of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has decided to relieve 22 members of provincial assembly of their duties as parliamentary secretaries.
Sources privy to the matter said here yesterday the government has decided to issue a notification to this effect, retaining only 10 of the earlier appointed 32 parliamentary secretaries, who had not yet been assigned any department.
The 10 MPs who would retain their parliamentary secretary slots have now been assigned specific departments to defend and answer queries related to in the KP Assembly when the concerned minister is not available.
ISAF soldier killed in blast
Kabul: A soldier of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) was killed in an explosion south of the country.
ISAF issued a statement today saying that one of its soldiers in Afghanistan was killed on Wednesday by an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan.
ISAF did not give the nationality of the victim or any other details about the incident.
Agencies
