Sources at the Prime Minister’s Office told The Express Tribune that the discussion between the two leaders also focused on drone strikes in the run-up to the US secretary of state’s visit to Pakistan.

“To take up the issue of drone strikes in Kerry’s upcoming visit, Prime Minister Nawaz has been consulting stakeholders, including the armed forces, foreign policy experts, advisors and opposition parties,” sources said.

They added that the prime minister is determined to prevent any power from turning Pakistan into its playing-field.

“He [Sharif] will make this clear as per the expectations of the nation, particularly the people of the war-torn tribal region of Pakistan.”

Sources said matters pertaining to the recently-revealed US secret internet surveillance programme have also been included in the agenda upon recommendations made by the military authorities to the prime minister previously.

Kerry will be visiting Pakistan this month. It will make him the first high-ranking American official to visit the country since the May 11 general elections.

During the telephone conversation, Kerry reaffirmed the importance of Pakistan-US relations for enduring peace and stability in the region.

Kerry gave an update on the recent developments taking place in the region and appreciated Pakistan’s role in maintaining peace and stability.

He said that the US Administration remains steadfast in supporting the new democratic government in Pakistan.

In turn, Prime Minister Nawaz said his government is committed to strengthening relations with the United States.

He underscored the need for strategic dialogue between the two countries and emphasised the importance of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries.

Balochistan security

The two leaders also discussed the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan.

“US secretary of state expressed concern over the state of security in Pakistan. He expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the Quetta carnage where 15 female students were killed,” sources said, adding that secretary Kerry was of the view that this is raising concerns in the international community.

To this, the premier responded: “a handful of terrorist elements and non-state actors are trying to prove that Pakistan is a failing state but conspirators won’t be allowed to attain their goals and will be dealt with an iron hand.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2013.

Chief meteorologist Muhammad Hanif said that from mid-June onwards, heavy rain is expected across the country along with thunderstorms and lightning, particularly in the northern and northeastern areas including Islamabad and Azad Kashmir.

Keeping this challenge in view, Pakistan’s flood response organisations, civil society, and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with senior UN relief officials have started devising an emergency plan in case catastrophic flooding occurs. Monsoon rains and consequent flooding had killed over 400 people in 2012.

A UN official, while talking to The Express Tribune said: “Different UN wings functioning in Pakistan have called for additional funds for Pakistan as the country is heading into the monsoon season, which usually results in flooding.”

“Precautionary measures are needed to meet emergencies when the monsoon enters the Asian region,” he said.

Earlier this week, Director of Operations John Ging at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the situation in Pakistan was worrisome because of a drop in funding for humanitarian efforts.

On the other hand, NDMA’s risk reduction team member Idrees Mehsud said that the authority was constantly in contact with key state departments that could help overcome flood dangers. “After analysing the previous years experience we keep upgrading our emergency response and devise contingency plans after coordinating with state organs.”

However, he added that the NDMA awaits a forecast from the meteorological office before plans are finalised.

Moreover, district coordinating officials will assign the responsibilities for rescue and relief operations. Those responsibilities include everything from locating rehabilitation sites for the displaced persons to the distribution of rations.

Forecast so far

Northeastern areas of Punjab including Lahore, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Sialkot and other adjoining cities can experience heavy rainfall to very heavy rainfall between June 13 and June 15. Areas in South Punjab including Multan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and adjoining cities can experience rainfall during this period with thunder and lightning.

Rainfall may occur in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Peshawar due to the interaction with western winds from June 13 to June 14, south Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining Balochistan can experience isolated heavy rainfall. In the northern and central areas, this first pre-monsoon spell might end on June 15 night or June 17 morning.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2013.

Confirming that Pakistan has shown willingness to buy power from India, sources say that setting up the cross-border transmission line is a simple task, provided the two countries decide to facilitate the project.

Pakistan has reportedly sought 500 megawatt electricity from India through transmission lines from Indian Punjab into Lahore, but the details and modalities of the purchase and the techno-commercial and sovereign arrangements still have to be worked out.

Certainly, signals from both countries seem to indicate that this possibility is being seriously considered. Earlier this week, a power ministry delegation led by Indian Joint Secretary Rita Acharya, and accompanied by experts, visited Pakistan to discuss the broad contours of the proposed arrangement. Pakistan, which is reeling under a severe power crisis, plans to import 1,000 MW of power from India alone.

In another move Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir called on the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Friday and discussed enhancement of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, reported The Hindu.

Bashir is believed to have assured Sharma that Pakistan’s new government was keen on strengthening trade and economic relations with India, and that a decision on various issues would be taken in the next few months, according to the news report.

Earlier, a joint delegation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) called on Bashir at the Pakistan High Commission.

New Delhi is said to be willing to help Pakistan in the energy sector and is exploring points which can be used to connect to the grid in Pakistan through a high-voltage direct current line, government sources said.

The sources added that the two states have to first develop transmission lines for power evacuation. But no timeline was specified for the completion of such a network. Talks between the two countries in this regard are ongoing.

With an installed capacity of over 211,000 MW, India certainly has electricity to spare. It also plans to generate another 88,000 MW of electricity by March 2017. Given India’s capacity and Pakistan’s dire need for energy, it seems that a deal may well be on the cards.

Nawaz wants to import power from neighbours

In a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday to review the worsening energy crisis, Nawaz directed the water and power ministry to explore opportunities to import electricity from neighboring countries without any delay. Sources told The Express Tribune that the PM laid particular emphasis on examining the possibility of importing energy from India on an urgent basis in order to improve Pakistan’s power situation.

The officials were directed by the premier to present a detailed report prior to 20th June. After the cabinet’s approval, a decision will be taken in principal to enter into negotiations with India for a formal electricity deal.

The PM also directed the ministry to develop a long-term energy security policy and officials told the premier that the short-, medium- and long-term policies would be completed this month. Along with this, an action plan is also being finalised for the recovery of power bills from defaulters.

According to the sources, “the meeting decided in principle to take tangible measures both for increasing generation and exploring alternate energy sources.” The meeting also underlined the need to reduce theft, rationalise the power tariff and minimise line losses.

Much of the meeting was taken up by discussions on how to curb the circular debt within 60 days, as per the commitment made in Ishaq Dar’s budget speech.

The main decisions taken in the meeting were to boost the national grid’s generation capacity and to focus on overhauling existing power plants. The PM directed that “providing special care and maximum relief to the common man must be the topmost consideration at the time of validation of the tariff.” The Prime Minister also directed that the provinces be taken on board in the consultative process.

It was also revealed that a professional project management office is being established in the Ministry which includes a policy and an implementation cell. The project management office shall supervise and review the progress on key policy decision and the energy implementation plan.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Pervez Rashid, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and experts from the energy sector. It has also been decided that the meeting will be held weekly from now on.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: With the government’s budget proposals for alleviating the acute power shortage in the cutry and mounting circular debt yet to be ratified, the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on the national problem in Islamabad on Friday.

During the meeting, Nawaz directed to boost the National Grid’s generation capacity and to have special focus on overhauling the power plants particularly those often get troubled and nonfunctional due to technical faults.

The meeting reviewed the prevailing energy situation in the country and examined ways and means to improve it.

Nawaz has also decided to hold a special meeting on a weekly basis to review the energy situation.

Earlier, the premier was given a detailed briefing about power production and distribution by officials of water and power ministry. Energy experts gave details about strategy and implementation of timelines for reduction of load shedding as a major chunk of the meeting was spent deliberating on how to curb the circular debt within 60 days as per the commitment made in the federal fiscal budget for year 2013-14.

Importing power

The prime minister also directed the water and power ministry to develop a long term energy security policy and explore opportunities to import electricity from neighboring countries.

The officials were directed by the premier to present a detailed report before June 20 when the cabinet’s approval on plans will be sought.

Comprehensive power plan

The ministry of water and power officials told the premier that short-term, mid-term and long-term plans on power projects will be completed this month. Additionally, an action plan is also being finalised for recovery of power bills from defaulters.

The meeting also underlined the need to reduce theft, rationalise tariff and minimise line losses.

The Prime Minister directed to take on board the provinces in the consultative process on the power plan.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Pervez Rashid, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and experts of energy sector.

ISLAMABAD: The pension of retired government employees was increased by 10% raising the pension bill to an estimated 171.3 billion; while the salaries of the government employees was kept unchanged for the first time in years.

The minimum monthly pension has been raised from Rs3,000 to Rs5,000. However the government employees who expected to hear good news in the finance minister’s budget speech were disappointed as no announcement was made for them.

Discussing the pension raise, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said: “Despite the austerity drive we are mindful of the difficulties being faced by retired government employees and to mitigate their difficulties we have decided to increase pensions by 10% from July 1, 2013; with an additional relief to low pensioners, whose minimum pension is increased from Rs3000 to Rs5000”.

Sources privy to the cabinet’s pre-budget meeting told The Express Tribune that the federal cabinet was undecided over an increase in the salaries of government employees. However it approved 10% increase in pension.

Sources further elaborated that “despite being in a stiff fiscal situation, authorities were considering increasing the salaries of government employees from 7.5% to 10%; but later on the idea was put aside and it was decided to give a significant raise to 1.8 million pensioners”.

Sources added that the finance ministry had primed two proposals for the government to provide support to federal government employees.

The first proposal was to link the increase in salaries with the annualised rate of inflation, which was expected to remain in the range of 7.5%. The second proposal was to increase salaries by 10%, which would bump up the size of federal salaries bill by Rs20 billion, sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif removed Inspector General Motorways Zafar Abbas Lak for issuing a felicitation advertisement on state expenses, according to sources in the PM’s office.

The fate of President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Dr Asif A Brohi will also be decided by the premier once he furnishes his explanation to the show-cause notice served to him along with the IG motorways for the same issue.

The Establishment Division on Thursday had sought an explanation and issued show-case notices to Brohi and Abbas over congratulatory advertisements on Nawaz Sharif’s election as prime minister.

However, on Wednesday, Nawaz formally removed Abbas from his office. The PM further issued directions to the concerned authorities to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him for wasting public money.

Nawaz issued these directions after going through the explanation submitted by the IG’s office in response to the show-cause notice. He declared that he found the explanation to be unsatisfactory.

The Prime Minister has already barred ministries and autonomous bodies from issuing such advertisements. Furthermore, Nawaz warned of action against those who violate his directions, saying that the heads of such departments would have to reimburse the amount spent on such advertisements and would also face disciplinary action.

Public Affairs and Grievances wing abolished

Earlier on Wednesday, the premier dissolved the whole public affairs and grievance wing of the PM’s office. All the officials that were posted in the said wing have been directed to report to the establishment division.

According to the new directives issued by the premier, the Ministry of Parliamentary affairs will deal with the matters of public affairs and grievances.

Officers from various departments of the PM office have been sent back to the establishment division. Mazhar Ali Khan from Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) with BS 22, Aurangzeb Haque of PAS with BS 21, Sher Ayub khan from Secretariat Group with BS 21, Masood Akhter from Military Land with BS 20 and Mohammed Jamil with BS 19 have been directed to report to the establishment division immediately.  Nawaz also appointed PSP 22 Officer Javed Iqbal as Commandant National Police Academy Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD: The federal fiscal budget for the year 2013-14, presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday saw an increase of 10 per cent in the pension of retired government employees.

In a move to support retired employees, the minimum monthly pension amount was also increased from Rs3000 to Rs5000. However, for the first time in years, the salaries of government employees have seen no change.

Terming it a “relief measure” for retired government employees, Dar said, “Despite the austerity drive, we are mindful of the challenges faced by pensioners and to assist them we have decided to increase pensions by 10% from July 1 – with additional relief being provided to low pensioners.”

No salary increase

Sources privy to the cabinet meeting which approved the fiscal budget on Wednesday told The Express Tribune, that the federal cabinet was undecided over the matter of increasing government employees’ salaries.

For the last five years, pensioners have seen a 15 to 25 per cent annual rise in their pensions with slight variations.

Sources detailed that despite being in a struggling fiscal situation, authorities were considering an increase in the salaries of federal government employees from 7.5 to 10 per cent but later the idea was put aside in favour of pensioners.

The finance ministry had primed two proposals for the government on the matter, sources added.

The first proposal was to link the increase in salaries with the annualised rate of inflation, which was expected to remain in the range of 7.5%.

Subject to approval, this proposal would have increased the federal government’s expenditure by almost Rs15 billion.

Had the proposal been approved, over half of government’s estimated expenditures for the next fiscal year would have gone in the payment of salaries.

In addition to 650,000 armed personnel, there are approximately 600,000 federal government employees.

Salaries to the military personnel are paid out of the defense budget but the pension cost is borne by the civilian government.

The second proposal was to increase the salaries by 10%, which would have increased the amount of expenditure on federal salaries by Rs20 billion, sources said.

For the next fiscal year, the pension bill has been estimated at Rs171.3 billion and 77.2% of it will be spent on paying the pensions of retired military officers.

Two factors have influenced the provisions pertaining to the salaries of government employees.

The first is the response of the provincial governments, which employ over 2.2 million employees; and secondly, the fact that a 20% increase was already given to the employees of the Federal Secretariat in March this year.

Now, different pay structures have been put in place for the employees who work in the judiciary, military, Presidency, Prime Minister’s Secretariat, National Accountability Bureau and those employed in other departments.

Sources said there was also a proposal to merge some of the ad-hoc allowances given during the last three years.

Ad-hoc relief allowance of 50% given in 2010, 15% in 2011 and 20% in 2012 are not merged in the basic pay, at present.

Mergers will not only increase the annual benefits of the employees but would also increase allowances related to house rent and medical expenses.

Secretary Finance promised increase in Employees Salaries

President Employees’ coordination council Chaudhary Muhammad Hussain Tahir expressed his reservations over no increase in the salaries of government employees employees in the federal budget, despite a commitment on it by Dr Waqar Masood Khan.

The council had presented Charter of Demand (CoD) to secretary finance earlier in which they demanded that salaries be increased by 100%, ad-hoc allowances be merged in basic pay, medical allowances be increased and housing subsidy be provided instead of house rent allowance.

Tahir said the finance secretary had assured the council delegation that employees’ pay would see an increase considering the rise in inflation rates.

On Monday, the premier directed his ministers to immediately curtail the expenditures of their respective ministries by up to 30%. Even the close friends of the premier would not be exempt. Not satisfied with that, Nawaz said he wanted the ministries to cut back their expenditures by 60% to 70%.

“I advise the cabinet members to study the party’s manifesto. We have to reduce all non-development expenditures by at least 30% or even by more than half,” he told the maiden session of the federal cabinet.

The premier spelled out guidelines for his ministers, directing them to adopt austerity, avoid extravagant lifestyle and work dedicatedly for the public good. The performance of ministers would be evaluated every three months to ensure good governance, he added. “Strict and indiscriminate action will be taken against ministers who slack off.”

To prove that he means what he says, the prime minister ordered the immediate cancellation of a tender issued by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Islamabad, during the previous government’s tenure, for the expansion of roads leading to the Prime Minister House.

Nawaz also talked about the national economy, which is caught up in a time warp. He noted with concern that public sector institutions, Pakistan Steel Mills and Pakistan International Airlines in particular, were incurring massive annual losses. He said that his administration would study all possibilities – including privatisation, public-private partnership and change of CEOs – to salvage such loss-making institutions.

Coming to the debilitating energy crisis, the premier said that it has paralysed the economy, including the agriculture and industrial sectors. “The government cannot remain a silent spectator,” he told his cabinet members. The new administration is working out short-, medium- and long-term plans to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages.

Nawaz noted that circular debt had gone up to a whopping Rs503 billion. “Even if we retire this debt, there is no guarantee that this will not reappear unless we put in place a comprehensive plan,” he added. “We have to see whether we can set up new plants as thermal power is very expensive. We shall try to eliminate line losses and power theft. We shall punish all those responsible for this crisis.”

He reiterated that his administration was committed to overcoming the power crisis which has been triggering rampant protests, especially in sultry summers, since 2008.

About a problem which had dogged the previous government throughout its five-year rule, the prime minister vowed ‘zero-tolerance’ for corruption. Nawaz said he expected high level of transparency from his cabinet ministers.

“The people have given us an overwhelming mandate and it was God’s will that whoever comes to power should have the backing of a majority of the electorate,” he said. “Governments with fractured mandates cannot solve problems. Such governments have to compromise on principles and ideologies and the current state of affairs has no room for making such compromises.”

The US drone strikes inside Pakistan pose another daunting challenge to the Nawaz administration. The premier reiterated that his government would go beyond rhetoric and take practical steps to get the controversial campaign called off.

He added that his government would not follow a dual policy: publicly condemning drone attacks while tacitly condoning America’s unmanned war in the tribal belt. “The US administration will have to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. A comprehensive policy will be devised after seeking input from all stakeholders against drone strikes,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: With the weight of a troubled economy weighing on newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he directed all his ministries to bring down on their expenditures to 30 per cent during the inaugural cabinet meeting on Monday.

Nawaz urged the cabinet members to work for decreasing state expenditures and ensure public service. He said that each public servant should be bound for ensuring punctuality in office. He also urged the ministers to put an end to the culture of lethargy and reinvigorate all the systems by setting aside personal whims and wishes and concentrating on national interests.

As a means of accountability, the prime minister issued a warning to his federal ministers, telling them that their performance will be evaluated every three months

“I shall review your performance and I would not like to fail, I advise the cabinet members to study the Party’s manifesto and we have to reduce all non development expenditure by at least thirty percent or even more than half.”

Nawaz also ordered the immediate cancelation of a tender earlier issued by Capital Development Authority (CDA), during the previous government’s tenure, for beautification of roads leading to the Prime Minister’s House.

However, Asif said that his priority was to reduce load shedding hours in order to make them bearable and to ensure equal power cuts across the country. He did however say that the duration of power outages would be cut short in the holy month of Ramazan.

Speaking to media persons at his ministry in Islamabad on Saturday, Asif said that he would not give any deadline to end load shedding, but eventually did give a rough idea as to when some improvement can be expected

“I will not say it will take days, weeks or months to end load shedding but I can say that it will take a year at least. There is a supply-demand gap, as well as power theft and lots of corruption which needs to be eradicated,” Khawaja Asif told the media.

The minister added that in his view load shedding is like a pile of garbage that has piled up in the last 13 to 14 years, and could not be cleared immediately.

Asif said the PPP had five years to resolve the power crisis, but they neglected the core issues. He added that he has yet to take practical charge of the ministry and would only be able to gauge the real situation after four days of doing so. This time would be needed to go through the papers and review the situation on the ground, as he was unaware of the strategy being followed out as of now.

The minister also refused to comment when asked about an expected hike in the per unit electricity price being suggested by the newly elected PML-N government.

Pakistan has been suffering the worst power outages in its history with urban areas facing 12-16 hours of power cuts, while rural areas are facing over 16 hours of load shedding on a daily basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2013.