Broadsheet scandal committee to make revelations: Shibli Faraz

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has said that an inter-ministerial committee has been formed in the light of recent statements on the Broadsheet scandal which will make revelations in the coming days.

Informing the media after the meeting of the Federal Cabinet in Islamabad, Shibli Faraz said that the audit of institutions was done by the private sector but a mechanism has been set up to bring harmony like National Bank of Pakistan, OGDC. The scope of the Auditor General has also been extended to L, PTCL and similar autonomous bodies.

He said that there was talk of institutional reforms in the cabinet as the process of efficiency, transparency and accountability in the institutions is compromised so it was decided that in the coming days we will bring out all our reforms.

The Federal Minister said that a detailed press conference will be held on the reforms we have made in which the details of the reforms that have been completed and those that are in progress will be explained.

He said that there were 445 institutions which we have brought to 341, some have been merged and some institutions have been abolished.

Referring to the cabinet meeting, he said that despite giving ministries to the provinces under the 18th amendment, the number of federal government employees has increased instead of decreasing. In this regard, pension payments are made.

He said that the cabinet also directed the pension commission to speed up its work as these are important things.

'Eighteenth Amendment must be corrected'

Shibli Faraz said that there is no one against the 18th amendment but there are some flaws in it which need to be rectified. The committee is headed by Shafqat Mahmood and it was also discussed because of the imbalance between provincial and federal employees It is also important to correct.

He said that smuggling of petrol discourages standard petrol, adding that the smuggled petrol besides harming the environment and vehicles also causes a loss of about Rs. 180 billion to the national exchequer.

He said that operations in this regard have started from today and all the concerned agencies including FBR, Customs and Police have formulated a comprehensive strategy against 192 petrol pumps and initiated action.

He said that 192 petrol pumps have been sealed, the punishment is also severe and they have been given one week to respond, the other is that when it is decided that the smuggled petrol was being sold, there will be severe punishment.

Referring to the smuggled petrol, he said that there are about 2,094 petrol pumps in the country which are spread across the country which is also harmful to the environment and causes damage to the national exchequer.

Shibli Faraz said that Asad Umar raised the case of Osama Satti's murder in Islamabad on which the Prime Minister took stern notice and the JIT formed in this regard has completed its report and submitted it to the Home Secretary.

He said that the Prime Minister has stressed that if the family members are not satisfied with this JIT, then according to his satisfaction, there will be an inquiry under the supervision of anyone including the High Court judge and those responsible will be held accountable. Will be punished

The Federal Minister said that the Ministry of Human Rights has also directed the Ministry of Law to expedite the drafting of the law on enforced disappearances in the country.

'Committee formed to probe broadsheet scandal'

He said that the Broadsheet scandal started in 2000 and went into cold storage when the PPP and PML-N were given NRO. A ministerial committee has been formed which will look into specific issues.

He said that the committee would not only disclose the assets of the country to the people but also the work for which the company was paid and had started disclosures.

"Those who made fun of the country's institutions and damaged the national treasury then pushed the country into a legal quandary where we were defeated," he said.

The Federal Minister said that the Prime Minister has directed the Cabinet to formulate a policy on sugar and wheat in the next 15 days based on the experience gained in the previous years and clarify these points as we have done. He saw that the government of Sindh had created a shortage of wheat by stopping the supply of wheat and if the price also went up, a way should be paved for taking legal steps to stop it.

He said that in future no province should have the right to create supply chain and shortage in the whole country as it caused increase in prices and there was talk of strict legislation in this regard as it is a federal matter and Legislation is the prerogative of the federal government.

To a question, he said that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has become a thing of the past, it was a movement whose foundation was very hollow because people always come out for a movement against corruption so talk about it. Did not happen