Friday. the 5Th March. 1948
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CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (LEGISLATURE) Friday. the 5th March. 1948 The Constituent Assembly (Leg.slature) met in the Assembly Chamber, Karachi, at Ten of the CIO:k, Mr. Deputy President ~Mr. Tamizuddin Khan} in the Chair. STARRED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (a) ORAL ANSWERS LICENCES FOR RUNNING AIR SERVICES IN PAKISTAN I. *ALajj Muhantnted- Hashim Gazder ; Will the Honourable Minister for Communicaticns please state: (a) the number of lcences granted for running a ir services in Pakistan and the compan .es to whom these have been granted, and what are. the terms of Iicences ; (b) the- Ajr· routes for which such licences have been granted : (c) the number of regular applications received and on what dates; (d) the number of applications rejected and on what grounds; te) the reasons for - the Government limiting licences to only two companies j , (j) whether it is the p ilicy (If the Government to establish monopolies of these companies, and if so, why; (g) the names of Directors and Managing Agents referred to in (a) above ; and (h) whether any person referred to in (g) above is related to any Honourable Minister of Pakistan? The Honourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar: (a) Only one licence has so far been granted for running Air Services in Pakistan. This has been granted to M/;. Orient A:rways, Ltd. On the termination of the Standstill Agreement with India, there was only one company registered in Pakistan, i.e., Orient Airways, Ltd., and that company was given licence temporarily for three months which expired on the 31st December, 1947, and had to be extended for another period of three months because final decision about the policy was not taken. (b) The routes for which licence has been given are :- (I) Kl.rachi-Lahore-Rawalpindi-Peshawar. (2) Karachi-Quetta-Lahore. (3) Karachi-Delhi-Dacca. (4) D acca-Calcu tta-Ch ittagong-Akyab- Rangoon. (5) Karachi-Bombay, ~. , , (c) A statement is placed on the table of the Rouse. (20,) 208 CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (LEGISLATURE) [5TH MARCH 1948 (d) None. The latter part of the question does not arise. A Board presided over by an ex-High Court Judge has -now been set up to consider the applications for grant of fresh licences and to advise the Government. (e) The Government have decided to license only two companies in view of the fact that the traffic potential in Pakistan is low. There do not exist any great industrial centres either in West or in East Pakistan which may generate commercial traffic. On the trunk routes connecting East and West Pakistan, the Pakistan a r companies will have to compete with Indian companies and on external routes, competition from interna- tional operators w.Il have to be faced. Even on the purely internal rot tes, the trr.ffi : has t i be built up gracluaLy. M ireover it will be dangerous to allow mushroom companies to operate because it will lead to inefficiency, dissi- pation of techri.cal -personnel, waste of pu blic money and exposing the people tJt> various dangers. The policy has been adopted careiu'ly so that the private companies may be able to establish themselves on sound corr.mercial basis and pay their own way. (!) It is not the intention of the Government to establish mono- polies. Other companies besides the two licensed companies will be pe.rnitted to operate non-scheduled services. (g) The Directors of the Orient Airways are: lI) Mirza Ahmad Ispahani. (2) Mr. Mohd. Rafi Ispahani. (3) Sir Maratib Ali (4) Maharaja of Mal.mudabad , (5) The Honourable Khan Ift ikhar Husain Khan of Mamdot. (6) The Honourable Mr. M. A. Khuhro. (7) Maulvi Mohd. Amin. (8) Mr. Mohamedali Habib. 19) Shezada Najmu ddin. (10) Khan Bahadur Abdul Karim Baboo Khan. lII) 1\1111kFiroz Khan Noon. (12) Mr. Vali Mohamed Kasim Dada. (h) No. Statement showing names of Appticants anrl datu 0/ receipt of Applications Date of Receipt 1. Pakistan Mercantile Corporation, Lt d., Karachi 31.1.1948. ~. Orient Airways,Ltd.,Calcutta ., 31·1·1948. 3. Islamic Airways Agencies, Ltd. 31·1·1948• • , East Bengal Traders, Dacca 4.2·1948. STARRED QUESTION_S ANI? Ar:',S':",ERS :209 Athalj Muhammed Hashim Gazder : I would ask under (a) what were the terms of the licence? Tne class of licence is not mentioned. The Honourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar: The Honourable Mernber should see the Rules which are published and are available to tbe public. Mr. Mohammed Ali : Will the Honourable Member please state if there is any regular chartered service operating between the two Dominions? The Honourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar : I have already mentioned that permission was given to the Oi ient Airways to ope: ate on the Karachi- Bombay route. Unfortunately it bas not so far been possible for them to operate upon this route. ' Mr. Mohammed Ali : I was referring to chartered service. There is a char- tered service between Calcutta and Dacca which is operated by the Dalmia Jain Airways under two different names. Will the Honourable Minister please state whether the necessary permission was granted to the service? The Honourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar: I believe, Sir, thatthere is a little bit of misunderstanding about this matter. ' So far as we are concern- ed We give licences for scheduled services.S) far as the chartered service is con ie.nad if a Company has got sufficient aircraft and they want to fly it we allow pe iple to d) crartered service.As far as possible any company that is prepared to come forward can get the Iicence, r The Honourable Mr. Harnidul Huq Chowdhury: Is there any regular chart- ered service operating at present ? The Honourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar:No, Sir. Alhaij Muhammed Hashim Gazder : Is a subsidy in any srape paid to the Orient Ail ways? T.le Hmourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar :NJ,Sir. Mr. Prem Hari Barma : Will the Honourable Minister please state whether Gove.nment contemplate nationalizing the Air Services in Pakistan ? _. The, Honourable Sardar Abdur Rab Khan Nishtar : I would draw the atten.ion of the Honourable Member, Sir, tothe declaration that was .made. by the P .rkistan G.ive.nment, so far as thequestion of policy isconcer ned."There.n it:; W'-J.3;:lelrIy stated that <;1t,"pre5erit in th e+interest's vof tfre~-deveIGpmen~ of ."A.·r- Services,' ..-Government,-: i-ntend ,~tb -allow-vpr'ivate :"CGn1flim:;eS' \t9 operate air se.vices, but the ultimate aim of the Government is and will-be-she i'la.:tiOll.ll-iza.ti.:>n of tbe:Air.Servke~ ~: ~.... _ " _. ~_ ';;,.::.~__::.... :SCAitCITt·OP: CLotH' IN EA~t StNGAt:.·~·_._ .~_:_.~::',;_~.S.;:.::";" ---:z:-Prof.Rij Kumar.chakraverey.: (a) Will-the HOllCiutable:..Minister tcr Commerce, Ind.istr.es and-Works be pleased to state if there is a .scatC'itY.of oj.oth inEast Bengaland thatthepeople are suffering on thataceountP: :. (b) If SJ, what steps d) Government propose to take, and have already taken, to cope witb the situation ? The Honourable Mr. 1. I. Chundrigar : (a) Government are aware of the scarcity of cloth in East Bengal. Various causes including the inability of the -Benjal Textile Association to arrange· supplies and the refusal of the Government of India to allow the Government of East Bengal to set up their own.organization to lift the quota of-East Bengal and distribute it in their OWn area: ar~ r~3p?nsible for this' scarcity: P~o.P!eof E<l:~t.Benga~· a.r~eput t? 210 CONSTITUENTASSEMBLY (LEGISLATURE) [5TH MARCH 1945 some inconvenience by the dislocation of arrangements for supply, but the ~Jve,nment of East Bengal are taking the necessary steps to reduce the mconveniences. (b) Apart from representations made to the Government of India on a num- ber of occasions wnich, however, dd not always bear fruit, efforts are being m ide to obtain cloth from sources other than India. Mr. Dhirendra Nath Datta: Will the Honourable Minister please tell us what are the requirements of the people of East Bengal, so far as cloth is concerned ? The Honourable Mr. I. I. Chundrigar : The requirements of East Bengal were put d.iwn at 92,000 bales for the per ic d August, 1947 to JanualY, 1948. Mr. Dhirendra Nath Datta: Will the Honourable Minister please tell us how many textile mills are in East Bengal? The Honourable Mr. I. 1. Chundrigar :Five. Mr. Dhirendra Nath Datta: Will the Honourable Minister please tell us what IS the am.runt of production of these textile mills ? The Honourable Mr. I. I. Chundrigar : I want notice of the question. Mr. Dhirendra Nath Datta: Will the Honourable 111inister please tell us what is the state of things with regard to the production of these textile mills? Dues the cloth produced by these mills remain in East Bengal or is it allowed to be exported? The Honourable Mr. I. 1. Chundrigar : No cloth produced by mills in East Bengal is allowed to be exported. The Honourable Mr. Harnidul Huq Chowdhury : Will the Honourable Minister please state at wl-at rate of calculation has the figure of 92,000 bales been fixed for six months? The Honourable Mr.!.!. Chundrigar :That was according to the ration a.nd the quota fixed rn pre-partiticn days. T.le Honourable Mr. Hamidul Huq Chowdhury: Was this figure arrived at by thePakistan Gove ...nment or was it fixed by the Government of the Union of India ? Tae Honourable Mr. I. I. Chundrigar: The.Government of India.had fixed. the allocation f.ir Bengal ill pre-partition India. Afterthe division of Bengal the Government of India.Trom whomthesebalesof cloth hadto be obtained, tool: 'up the-matteragain-and made-allocations to West andEast Bengal-en-popula- tion basis, .- The Honourable Mr.