Miscreants challenged writ of state in North Waziristan, says Firdous Awan

ISLAMABAD: The North Waziristan clash was unfortunate as the miscreants challenged writ of the state by attacking a Pakistan Army check post and a personnel of Frontier Corps was martyred, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Information, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, said Tuesday.

Dr Awan said the cabinet condemned the incident and expressed solidarity with the injured and prayed for the departed soul. The tribespeople had rendered great sacrifices and paid with their lives and, now, some miscreant elements were putting at stake peace and development of the tribal areas, she added.

The special assistant added that Prime Minister Imran Khan led efforts for peace in tribal areas and decided to spend Rs 100 billion for development of infrastructure. She said a conspiracy was hatched and some elements played in the hands of international powers to endanger peace of the area.

Khan, she noted, had persuaded the provinces to give three percent share of their National Finance Commission (NFC) award to the erstwhile FATA areas, she added.

Child abuse

Dr Awan said the cabinet expressed concern over the misuse of content on Internet and increase in incidents of child molestation. The Ministry of Interior was given responsibility to take steps for stopping the rising incidents of child abuse, she added.

She said the ministries of law, human rights, and interior were asked to re-examine the laws regarding crimes against juvenile and the premier was of the view that capital punishment should be given to persons involved in child abuse cases.

Dr Awan said the cabinet decided to bring into use all available assets, including 31 of their properties, of the ministries. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had identified and recovered 17 properties from a Grade-19 officer in audit department of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).

The properties were made from misusing the funds allocated for ERRA to build houses for earthquake-affected people.

Kachhi Canal Project 

The cabinet also took note of identification of misuse of funds in the Kachhi Canal Project by different departments. A committee headed by Justice (Retd) Tasaduq Hussain Jillani identified the culprits in its findings but no action was taken.

The cabinet referred the matter to the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA), which would take action against the culprits within a month.

Health sector to use tobacco industry revenue for improvement

Dr Awan said the government was focusing on health issues and the cabinet, after discussing the health hazards posed by cigarette smoking, decided to generate more revenue from cigarette industry so that the amount could be spent on prevention measures in health sector.

She said the cabinet considered the mechanism for running the hospitals in provinces which were handed over to the Cabinet Division by the Supreme Court.

The law, health, and finance ministries would devise a budget support mechanism to protect rights of staff working in those hospitals.

Increase in Hajj quota

Dr Awan said Saudi Arabia's King Salman increased Hajj quota for Pakistanis by 15,790 on PM Khan's request. Earlier, the quota for Pakistanis was 179,210, in which 60% was via government and 40% was given through private operators.

Under the new quota, preference would be given to those who had applied for Hajj three times but remained unsuccessful, while the remaining 9400 persons would be given on the basis of hardship cases.

Khan directed that transparency and better facilities should be ensured for pilgrims, she mentioned, adding that, this time, 20,000 Pakistani pilgrims would be given immigration clearance at Islamabad airport while, later on, this facility would be made available at other airports.