Govt intends to privatize around 24 SOEs: NA informed

Islamabad: The National Assembly was informed today that the government intends to privatize around 24 State Owned Entities in coming years.

Responding to a question during Question Hour, Minister for Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan said these companies include Pakistan International Airlines, Roosevelt Hotel, First Women Bank, Utility Stores Corporation and various power distribution companies.

Answering another question, Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik said all field enforcement units have been sensitized to check smuggling of iron and steel items. He said over 785, 028 kilograms of steel products have been seized during the current fiscal year. He said all consignments are weighed twice in order to detect mis-declaration or under-weighment.

Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari has said provision of uninterrupted power supply is not possible without addressing the issue of line losses and electricity theft.

Responding to points of order, he said Pakistan cannot afford a loss of 700 billion rupees in the power sector and we have to improve the performance of power distribution companies to control losses.

The Minister said it is responsibility of all of us, irrespective of political affiliation, to play our due role to control power theft. He said the provincial governments will have to extend their cooperation in this respect.

Responding to a Calling Attention moved by Shehla Raza and others, Minister for Water Resources Musadik Masood Malik said there is no shortage of water in the country and every province is getting its complete share of water as per decision of the Indus River System Authority. He further told the House that IRSA is fully empowered to take decisions regarding water distribution and every province has its representation in the authority.

Regarding another question, the Minister said every province can divert water to link canals from its own share and not from the share of other provinces.

The House today passed “the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2024.”

Moving the bill, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the bill is aimed at giving more autonomy to the board of Radio Pakistan to improve its governance and performance.

Under the bill, the Federal Government shall appoint Director General of Radio Pakistan on the recommendations of the board. The constitution of the PBC board has been changed by increasing the independent directors/private members from four to nine, giving them a majority over ex-officio members. By increasing the number of independent directors/private members, representation has been given to the Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir; besides the four provinces.

The National Assembly also passed “The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2024”, “The Pakistan Postal Services Management Board (Amendment) Bill, 2024” and “The National Highway Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2024.”

The House will now meet on Wednesday at four pm.