The Federal Cabinet authorised an increase in the cotton support price of Rs800/maund on Tuesday, as well as the Kamyab Jawan Program (KJP), which would provide loans to nearly four million people to help them establish their own enterprises.
Fawad Choudhry hopes the enhanced cotton support price of Rs800/maund will encourage farmers to grow cotton instead of sugar and other crops. The minister said 4.5 million underprivileged households, registered with the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) of the Ehsaas programme, will take benefit from the Kamyab Jawan Program. He said an amount of Rs315 billion has been embarked for the programme.
The Kamyab Jawan Program (KPP) is a new tier in the Naya Pakistan low-cost Housing Scheme. Under the “Kamyab Karobar” Scheme, loans would be extended for small business and startups at zero per cent markup in both urban and rural areas. The information minister said Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has worked hard on this programme and it will help reduce the unemployment and poverty in the country.
Information Minister Fawad Choudhry said the government has speed-up the vaccination drive across the country. He said 23 Pakistanis imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for small crimes have been released and safely returned. The Cabinet also approved withdrawal of import duties on 61 items, which are being used in curbing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The information minister said for electoral reforms 49 recommendations have been finalised. He said if the Opposition has any objection to the Electronic Voting System then instead of criticising, it should give suggestions to improve it. The government will only talk to those Opposition members who are members of the Parliament, he said.
Pakistan Air Force and other security institutions who encroached the green belts have already evacuated them. The Cabinet also approved the appointment of Mohammed Jabbar as the chief executive of the Peshawar Electric Supply Corporation, it said. It rejected the summary of an increase in the salaries of ministers, state ministers and advisers.
