1 (8Th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 (8th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT ———— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the National Assembly to be held on Wednesday, the 20th February, 2019 1. *Mr. Junaid Akbar: Will the Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony be pleased to state whether there is any proposal under consideration of the Government to give subsidy on Hajj; if so, the details; if not, the reasons thereof? Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony (Mr. NoorulHaq Qadri): No. Hajj being one of the pillars of Islam, is mandatory for only those Muslims who are financially and physically able to do so. 2. *Prof. Dr. Shahnaz Baloch: Will the Minister for Industries and Production be pleased to state: (a) the steps taken by the Government to promote new industries including cottage in Balochistan; (b) the steps taken by the Government for employment of the people of Balochistan in cottage and new industries; (c) whether it is a fact that no new industry has been established in Balochistan; if so, the reasons thereof; and (d) whether Federal Government has any plan in this regard? Reply not received. 2 3. *Mr. Ali Gohar Khan: Will the Minister for Industries and Production be pleased to state the reasons for not paying the outstanding amounts to the contractors who are supplying merchandise to the Utility Stores? Minister for Industries and Production: The underlined idea for creating Utility Stores Corporation (USC) was to facilitate the low income group of the society by providing subsidized provisions and stores. The entire system of USC operates on the basis of subsidy provided by the Federal Government. The interruption in the release of Government support leads to financial chocking and organizational hiccups. Ministry of Industries & Production has already approached Finance Division for reclaiming the subsidy amount to offset the outstanding liabilities of the contractor/ vendors. Besides, the business revival plan for USC is under formulation. The implementation of business plan will further require approximately Rs.6 billion in order to transform the corporation into a profitable venture. 4. *Mr. Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das: Will the Minister for Maritime Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the number of licences issued during the last five years till date for fishing in the sea; (b) the status of the fish export at present; and (c) the number of individuals associated with the profession of fishery? Minister for Maritime Affairs (Syed Ali Haider Zaidi): (a) Marine Fisheries Department Marine Fisheries Department is an Attached Department of M/o Maritime Affairs, Government of Pakistan, which controls the fish and fisheries activities beyond territorial water in the sea, i.e. beyond 12 Nautical Miles and at present did not issue any license for fishing during the last five (05) years. 3 It is further mentioned here that Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Pakistan, has been divided into following 3 zones: —————————————————————————————— Zone I 012 Nautical Miles Is being controlled by Provincial Government ZoneII 1220 Nautical Miles Declared as Buffer Zone (Federal Jurisdiction) ZoneIII 20200 Nautical Miles Controlled under Federal Jurisdiction. —————————————————————————————— Pakistan has been allowed to catch Fish and Fishery Products for which MFC issues fishing licenses and this department has not issued any fishing license for the last five years to operation in ZoneIII. Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority No fishing licenses issued by KoFHA during last 5 years as the subject of issuance of fishing licenses comes under the purview of DG (MFD). (b) Marine Fisheries Department During the year 20162017 155,091 Metric Tons Fish and Fisheries products were exported and earned 394 Million US$. During the years 20172018 198,420 Metric Tons Fish and Fisheries products were exported (Increased 27% from the last year), and earned 451 Million US$ (increased 15% from last year). Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority Total fish exported from seven functional plants of KOFHA was 17.5 million US$ during the year 201718. (c) Marine Fisheries Department It is mentioned here that the Fish Industries have two Components : One is the Fisherman engaged in Fishing on Fishing Vessels in both the provinces (Sindh & Balochsitan) which are 400,000 while in other categories of Fish Industries (processing Industries, Fish Harbour and Transportation of Fish etc) personnel engaged are 600,000. 4 Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority The individuals engaged in fish industry are either having their ancestral profession or entered in this business as investors / entrepreneurs. Some of them are crew members on fishing boats or some own fishing boats and Fish processing plants. Total number of people engaged in fishery at KoFHA is approximately 8000. 5. *Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali: Will the Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination be pleased to state: (a) the names of hospitals financed from the Federal Budget; and (b) the estimated amount of expenditures being incurred on the said hospitals? Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (Mr. Aamer Mehmood Kiani): (a) There are four (04) Federal Hospitals namely Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital (FGPC), National Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) and Federal General Hospital (FGH) which are working under administrative control of Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination. The said hospitals are financed from the Federal Budget. (b) The detail of estimated amount of expenditures being incurred on the said hospitals is as under:— PIMS The estimated amount of expenditures; being incurred is at AnnexA. FGPC During the last financial year 201718, expenditure amounting to Rs. 2037,836,000/ has been incurred by this Hospital. NIRM The estimated amount of expenditures incurred in NIRM is Rs. 292,960,000/ (during the financial year 201718). FGH During the last financial year 201718, expenditure amounting to Rs. 220,716,501/ has been incurred by this Hospital. Annex-A 5 6 6. *Syed Agha Rafiullah: Will the Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination be pleased to state: (a) the total number of cancer patients in the country at present; and (b) the facilities being provided by the Government to them? Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (Mr. Aamer Mehmood Kiani): (a) According to Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, the number of deaths occurring due to cancer is 12.07% in Pakistan. (b) With the increase in number of populations the number of patients seeking healthcare has increased including patient with cancers. Cancer patients are being treated as per available resources in all tertiary care hospitals. Furthermore, there are 18 cancer treatment centers across the country under Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. 7. *Syed Hussain Tariq: Will the Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination be pleased to state: (a) whether the number of cancer patients is increasing day by day in the country, whereas the infrastructure is not sufficient to meet the challenges; if so, the details and the reasons thereof; (b) whether the Government has also taken notice of expensiveness of medicines of cancer; (c) whether the Government has conducted study in recent past to identify the reasons of increase in number of cancer patients in the country and how can the disease be prevented; if so, the details thereof; if not is there any proposal under consideration to conduct such study; and (d) the steps being taken by the Government to ensure availability of cancer medicines at affordable/inexpensive prices, develop 7 sufficient infrastructure of treatment of cancer and prevention of the disease at initial level? Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (Mr. Aamer Mehmood Kiani): (a) The number of cancer patients have been increasing in country as illustrated in table below: —————————————————————————————— Year Total Deaths (Pakistan) 2017 —————————————————————————————— 2010 10.11% 2011 10.11% 2012 10.42% 2013 10.94% 2014 11.48% 2015 12.07% —————————————————————————————— Source: Global Burden of Disease study, all ages, Pakistan (2017) The increase in numbers is attributed to increasing population, progressive longevity and increasing risk factors in the society (like use of tobacco). (b) Yes, Government has taken notice but as such there is no proposal yet. (c) Currently there is no national or populationbased cancer registry in Pakistan. The study of many tumors form different parts of the country over a thirty years period has brought out several significant and useful features. It is now reasonably certain as to which tumors are commonly present in the males, females and children in the Pakistani population. A cancer registry is under consideration at federal and provincial level. (d) PCI has been submitted for treatment of cancer patients of ICT, AJK and Gilgit Balitistan through Public private partnership of which total project cost is 4,772,150,724 PKR. Prime Minister Health insurance Programme is offing cancer treatment for poor patients. 8 Prime Minister Fatal Disease programme provided treatment to cancer patients(Breast Cancer) Treatment of cancer being carried out in all major and public sector hospitals across the country. 8. *Ms. Shamim Ara Panhwar: Will the Minister for Water Resources be pleased to state whether the total land required for the construction of Mohmand Dam has been acquired/purchased? Minister for Water Resources (Mr. Muhammad Faisal Vawda): The Land Acquisition, as per decision by the Implementation Committee on Diamer Basha and Mohmand Dams (ICDBMD), is being carried out through Customary Tribal System. The ICDBMD Committee for Land Acquisition for Mohmand Dam recommended the timelines as follow: PhaseI: Priority Land (Essentially required to start the work at Dam site) 844 Acres. It is likely that process of land acquisition will be completed by March 2019. PhaseII: Irrigation Network (Canal Area) 1,159 Acres Completion, June 2019.