'Missing persons' dominate Senate

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar has assured that the issue of missing persons in Balochistan will be addressed in accordance with the legal framework and relevant laws.

Speaking in the Senate on Wednesday in response to Senator Kamran Murtaza, Tarar announced that the government has recently established a commission to address this critical issue.

He stressed that while maintaining law and order was primarily the provincial government's responsibility, the concerns raised will be communicated to the interior minister for prompt action.

The government, he assured, remained fully committed to resolving this human rights issue effectively.

During the session, in response to a question by Haji Hidayat, Tarar addressed the issue of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

He revealed that over the past five years, a sum of over 14 crore rupees had been embezzled from the program, but almost seven crore rupees had already been recovered. However, he downplayed the scale of the financial discrepancy, explaining that "in the distribution of 12 or 14 hundred billion rupees, a Rs140 million loss is not such a big issue".

He further added, "There has been some negligence and sluggishness in the matter, but compared to such a large amount, the Rs140 million discrepancy is minimal".

The session continued with Tarar stressing that government institutions should not engage in business activities, noting that state-owned enterprises incurring losses have been a burden on the national treasury.

Unrest in K-P

Later, Senator Aimal Wali Khan broached the subject of the ongoing turmoil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, accusing the state of intentionally exacerbating the situation.

He recalled Pakistan's past support for the Taliban during the regime of former military leaders, attributing much of the present unrest to these historical decisions.

Internet disruptions

Later, the House also echoed concerns over the repeated internet disruptions.

In response to Senator Muhammad Aslam Abro's questions about the issue, the ministry blamed technical issues.

However, the lawmaker lamented that while the world has reached the moon, Pakistan was still unable to resolve the issue in a year.

Minister of State Shaza Fatima responded that the PTA had doubled the country's frequency over the past two years and reported a 33% increase in IT exports during the last five months.

PIA

Senator Zeeshan Khanzada sought clarification regarding the status of the new recruitments while pointing out that no one was willing to buy PIA because it has an excessive number of employees.