98 industrial units privatised so far, Senate told
 

Question-hour



ISLAMABAD: The government told the Senate on Wednesday that as many as 98 industrial units had been privatised so far of which only 19 were functional, as the opposition senators wondered whether the privatisation policy was or **t in national interest.

During the question hour, in reply to a question by PPP Senator Taj Haider, Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar in a written answer, said that the privatised industrial units, included 7 automobiles, 15 cement, 13 chemical, 7 engineering, 6 fertiliser, 23 ghee, 8 rice, 15 roti plants and 4 textile units.

He said the total sale price of these units from 1991 to 2006 was Rs60,994 million. The operational units included: Al-Ghazi Tractors Ltd. National Motors (Gandhara Industries Ltd.), Millat Tractors Ltd., Balochistan Wheels Ltd. and Pak Suzuki Motors Ltd.

Senator Shah Syed of ANP, Azam Swati of PTI, Taj Haider, Nasreen Jalil of MQM questioned about the utility of privatisation and wondered had the government learnt any lessons from the past such experiences, which included the still stuck up $800 million with regards to sell-off of PTCL to Etisalat.

Responding to these queries, Law Minister Zahid Hamid said that lessons had been learnt and the government focus was more on public-private partnership **w instead of opting for strategic sale of the state-owned entities.

He also said that privatisation in some cases was very successful and in other cases, **t so good experience.To a**ther question by MQM’s Mian Muhammad Ateeq, the minister told the House that the draft of the Public Interest Disclosure Act had been approved by the cabinet committee, which he headed and **w it would be presented before the federal cabinet in its next meeting and then it would be introduced in the Parliament.

He explained the proposed law would ensure complete protection of the whistle blower and added that under the whistle blower reward scheme, an**unced a few months back, so far one whistle blower had come forward with information, which was being scrutinised.

Zahid Hamid told the Senate that the current ratio of direct and indirect taxation stood at 40 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, which was 32 per cent and 68 per cent in 2005-2006. He **ted that the trend was that the indirect taxation ratio should be further brought down, as Senators Ateeq and Dr. Jehanzeb Jamaldeni of BNP-Mengal laid emphasis on reducing the massive burden of indirect taxes on the common man.

Senators Nauman Wazir, Azam Swati of PTI, Abdul Rehman Malik and Usman Saifullah of PPP raised questions about the quality of milk being marketed and concerns about human health. They wanted picking out one advanced country to follow its quality standards of food. They also wanted a mechanism to ensure that meat quality should also be properly checked.

Zahid Hamid said that there were a total of 107 items on the list of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority and **w its number stood at 108 after inclusion of checking quality of milk. He added the authority was being given more powers.





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