G-B mulls limiting provision of subsidised wheat

Govt to conduct a survey to identify people eligible for targeted subsidy

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government on Thursday said it will conduct a fresh survey in the region to identify who were the people who deserved to receive subsidised wheat.

G-B has been receiving a subsidy on wheat for the past four decades ever since former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto introduced a package for the people owing to rampant poverty in the region and high costs in transporting the grain to the remote, mountainous region.

However, the subsidy has become a bone of contention in G-B’s power corridors after the federal government hinted last year that it may withdraw the subsidy.

“The first step will be to identify an organisation capable of carrying out the survey for us,” G-B Parliamentary Secretary on Law and Justice Aurangzeb Khan told the media on Thursday.

“The cabinet today gave the approval for starting a search and shortlisting survey organisations,” said Khan in his talk before the media following the six-hour long cabinet meeting.

However, Khan assured that the government had not yet decided to withdraw the facility completely. Instead, he explained that the matter would be discussed in the G-B Legislative Assembly to make it a targeted subsidy.

Compensation for 2012 riots

Apart from the subsidy, Aurangzeb said that the issue of paying compensation for the buses torched in Chilas during the 2012 riots was also discussed and approved in Thursday’s cabinet meeting.

The meeting also decided to establish a police welfare fund for employees below grade 18.

“The bill will be tabled in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) for discussion,” he said.

The GBLA will also debate the Forest and Wildlife Bill and seek input from the lawmakers.

“One of the points in the forests bill is to protect community rights in the Diamer valley,” he said while highlighting key aspects of the bill.

Aurangzeb reminded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has launched a Green Pakistan Programme to increase the forest cover of the country.

In this regard, he said, the federal government had released Rs553 million as first tranche of Green Pakistan Fund, to be disbursed to Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the four provinces.

Talking about other decision taken in the cabinet meeting, Aurangzeb said G-B would make a policy to do away with hiring in the government departments on a contingent basis.

A contingent worker is defined as someone who works for an organisation but is not considered a permanent employee. Contingent workers could be freelancers, consultants, seasonal or temporary employees and independent contractors.

Moreover, he said, a child protection bill will be tabled in the next session of GBLA for debate.

In order to strengthen financial conditions of the government-sponsored Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO), Aurangzeb said the G-B government will give all transportation contracts to it.

In addition, the G-B government has decided to start charging rent for its rest houses, even from government officers. The rest houses, located at scenic spots, can earn hefty revenue if rented out to tourists, however, most of the time these are occupied by government officials and their friends and families.

Aurangzeb said officers staying in these rest houses would be bound to pay a certain amount of rent to help increase the government’s revenue.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2017.