ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday approved the reconstitution of the National Economic Council (NEC) under Article 156 of the Constitution.
The prime minister will be the chairman of the NEC while the chief ministers of all provinces will be its members.
From the federal side, the members include Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and Communication Minister Asad Mehmood.
The names of Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari (Punjab), Senator Nisar Khoro (Sindh), Taimur Saleem Jhagra (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) and Noor Muhammad Damar (Balochsitan) have been approved for the NEC.
The deputy chairman Planning Commission, Secretary Finance, Secretary Economic Affairs and Secretary Planning Division will attend the meetings on special invitation.
Read more: President Arif Alvi holds education ministry responsible for non-use of foreign grant
On June 6, President Dr Arif Alvi had held the Ministry of Education responsible for criminal waste, inefficiency and irresponsibility for non- utilisation of Germany’s grant of Rs13.707 million since 1993-94.
He had stated that the donation, which was given 30 years ago for the purchase of paper to enable printing of cheaper text books, had remained unutilised until today, while the government was asking for grants and loans internationally to meet its immediate needs.
The president had directed the hitherto defunct Ministry of Education and now the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to conduct an inquiry, hold the people responsible, and take action against them according to law.
He had cautioned the Ministry of Education not to shift the burden of such inquiries on the retired and expired people and directed it to submit the compliance report to the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) within 45 days.
The President had observed this in his decision on the appeal referred by the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) against the decision of FTO, a press release issued by the President’s Media Wing here had said.
The President had highlighted that the said money remained in non-profit bearing account for 6 years and nobody cared about it. Had it been any officer’s personal money, he would have not allowed even one day to lapse and would have deposited in a profit scheme, he had remarked.
For the latest BOL Live News, Follow on Google News. Read more on Latest Pakistan News on oldsite.bolnews.com
