PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan rejects finance bill

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman (Noor Alam Khan has said the tax is collected from the people of Pakistan but no facilities are provided to them, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Wednesday.

His statement came in the wake of the mini-budget presented by Finance Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar. He said Ishaq Dar appeared in the parliament only to increase inflation. He announced opposing the bill to impose new taxes on the poor.

He said the finance minister might not be cognizant of the flour and sugar’s prices.  “Ishaq Dar imposed taxes of Rs170 billion, he said, and what a common man would do in these circumstances.”

Noor Alam said that parliamentarians should be taken on board about the agreements with IMF, whether inked by the previous regime or signed by the incumbent government.

He pointed out that there was a shortage of flour and Urea in the country as the two commodities were being exported to Afghanistan.

He asked the government to review its policies and provide maximum relief to the less-privileged class of society.

Referring to the burgeoning inflation, Noor Alam Khan said the rate of Urea was gradually increasing. “The medicines have gone out of the purchasing power of common people.”

Talking about default bills of electricity, he proposed the government to withdraw the facility of provision of free electricity to certain government officials.

It was not fair that on one side, the electricity price was being increased for the poor consumers, and on the other, some people were provided electricity free of charge, he added.

It was also the state's responsibility to provide basic facilities of life to the taxpayers, he stressed.

Criticizing finance minister, he questioned, “The government should tell the nation about the law that allows it to hold dialogues with dollar smugglers.”

He said that his country is Pakistan, not Afghanistan. He added that urea, flour, and US dollars are being smuggled to Afghanistan.

  He said the farmers had been affected by the recent torrential rains and flash floods in various areas of the country, but they had not yet been given any financial relief.