News
Thursday, January 05, 2012
All government employees will declare assets
Cabinet okays Rs 15bn more subsidy for power sector
* Cabinet directs uninterrupted power supply to domestic consumers
* Suspends gas supply to fertiliser, cement, industrial sectors and IPPs
By Zeeshan Javaid
ISLAMABAD: In a bid to curb corruption and strengthen accountability exercise in state institutions, the Federal Cabinet has decided to compel all public servants to declare their assets.
The decision was made at the cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday, especially to review the ongoing burning issue of gas crisis in the country.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan informed the media about the decisions made at today’s meeting. “Everyone who gets salary from government exchequer, whether from judiciary, armed forces or any other department, will be bound to declare assets and make them public,” she said.
Subsidy: The minister informed reporters that the cabinet also took a decision to provide additional Rs 15 billion subsidy to the power sector to overcome load shedding. This subsidy would be in addition to Rs 10 billion already allocated for the power sector.
She said that PM Gilani had strongly discouraged unscheduled load shedding, and directed energy managers to review the situation after every 48 hours.
Gas management: Meanwhile, the cabinet also directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to ensure smooth supply of gas to domestic consumers.
The cabinet also issued directions to suspend gas supply to industrial, fertiliser, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and cement sectors in the month of January.
The minister said that the prime minister has directed that in January full gas pressure should be ensured for the domestic consumers and the agreement reached by the ministry with the CNG sector be implemented.
She said that on the request of energy managers, PM Gilani would soon inaugurate the Kunnar-Pasaki gas field near Hyderabad in the next few days, which would add 100 million cubic feet gas into the system.
The cabinet also decided to form a committee to hold talks with the industrial sector of Sindh for supply of some share to industrial sector of Punjab during the ongoing month of 2012.
Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan also said that prudent policies and measures adopted by the government resulted in the reduction of inflation to a single digit of nine percent.
The minister said that the Sensitive Price Index, Consumer Price Index and Wholesale Price Index had registered a considerable decrease as compared to last year.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk