Ministry of religious affairs comes under fire
Senators raise concern over alleged corruption in renting accommodation for pilgrims.
ISLAMABAD:
Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi and his ministry came under fire in the Senate on Friday over alleged corruption in renting accommodation for the Haj pilgrims by the Pakistani authorities in Saudi Arabia.
Raising their concerns over a letter written by a Saudi prince to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, members from both treasury and opposition benches castigated the ministry for this act.
Haji Adeel Khan of ANP asked the government to give a policy statement on the issue and tell the house whether the reports of corruption were correct.
Dr Khalid Soomro of JUI-F said that corruption to the tune of Rs1.5 billion was detected in renting out accommodation for pilgrims. He said that Director General Haj was also called from Saudi Arabia on revelation of the hiring scam.
He disclosed that corruption of 1,000 Saudi riyals was detected. “It is a matter of shame that corruption seeps in even when it comes to accommodating pilgrims,” he said.
Seemin Siddiqui of PML-Q regretted the contents of a press conference held by Kazmi where he reportedly said that corruption was not new in the ministry. She suggested that a committee of the house should be constituted to hold an inquiry into the authenticity of the letter and allegations.
Meanwhile, former finance minister and PML-N parliamentary leader in the Senate Ishaq Dar while taking part in a debate on economy said that the government was directly responsible for the price hike of essential commodities, adding that the fiscal targets set for the year 2010-2011 were unlikely to be achieved.
Presenting a gloomy picture of the national economy, Dar said it was caused by the lack of commitment on the part of the government, saying that he did not know where the rulers’ priorities lay.
“The government will have to give importance to the economy equal to that accorded to war against terror and improvement of law and order situation as these are inter-linked with each other,” he said.
He also asked the government to take meaningful austerity measures as the gap between income and expenses is of Rs750 billion.
The PML-N parliamentary leader also called upon the government to stop printing excessive currency notes as the inflation rate was very high.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2010.
Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi and his ministry came under fire in the Senate on Friday over alleged corruption in renting accommodation for the Haj pilgrims by the Pakistani authorities in Saudi Arabia.
Raising their concerns over a letter written by a Saudi prince to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, members from both treasury and opposition benches castigated the ministry for this act.
Haji Adeel Khan of ANP asked the government to give a policy statement on the issue and tell the house whether the reports of corruption were correct.
Dr Khalid Soomro of JUI-F said that corruption to the tune of Rs1.5 billion was detected in renting out accommodation for pilgrims. He said that Director General Haj was also called from Saudi Arabia on revelation of the hiring scam.
He disclosed that corruption of 1,000 Saudi riyals was detected. “It is a matter of shame that corruption seeps in even when it comes to accommodating pilgrims,” he said.
Seemin Siddiqui of PML-Q regretted the contents of a press conference held by Kazmi where he reportedly said that corruption was not new in the ministry. She suggested that a committee of the house should be constituted to hold an inquiry into the authenticity of the letter and allegations.
Meanwhile, former finance minister and PML-N parliamentary leader in the Senate Ishaq Dar while taking part in a debate on economy said that the government was directly responsible for the price hike of essential commodities, adding that the fiscal targets set for the year 2010-2011 were unlikely to be achieved.
Presenting a gloomy picture of the national economy, Dar said it was caused by the lack of commitment on the part of the government, saying that he did not know where the rulers’ priorities lay.
“The government will have to give importance to the economy equal to that accorded to war against terror and improvement of law and order situation as these are inter-linked with each other,” he said.
He also asked the government to take meaningful austerity measures as the gap between income and expenses is of Rs750 billion.
The PML-N parliamentary leader also called upon the government to stop printing excessive currency notes as the inflation rate was very high.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2010.