Prime
Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today chaired meeting of Council of Common
Interests here at Prime Minister’s Office.
Discussing
matters pertaining to Higher Education and other similar bodies in post 18th
Constitutional Amendment, the meeting decided to constitute National Task Force
on Education Standards in the country. The Task Force would look into the
issues related to curriculum, medium of instruction etc., and would make
recommendations for bringing uniformity and improving quality of education
across the country.
Over the
issue of import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), the meeting decided that the
concerns of the provinces would be sent to the concerned ministry and the issue
would be discussed in the next meeting of the CCI alongwith views of the
concerned ministry.
On the issue
of provision of gas to localities/villages falling within 5 km radius of gas
production fields, it was decided that all expenditures involved would be borne
by the distribution companies. In case of province of Balochistan, provision of
gas to the nearest tehsil headquarter or district headquarter, as the case may
be, would be ensured.
The issue of
Net hydel Profits was also discussed during the meeting. It was informed that
the issue of the two provinces has been amicably resolved during the meeting
with the Prime Minister.
Statistics
Division gave a detailed presentation on the issue of third-party validation of
the census results. It was decided that 1% random sampling of the census data
would be enhanced to 5% and every effort would be made to complete the process
within the shortest possible time.
Over the
issue of export of surplus sugar, the meeting decided to recommend to the ECC
to allow export of 1.5 MMT sugar during FY 2017-18. The existing subsidy level
on the exports would continue.
The meeting
also agreed to real-time monitoring of the electricity production, allocation
to each DISCOs and duration of load-shedding by the provinces. Similar
mechanism would be made available for the gas sector also.
On the issue
of establishment of Fiscal Coordination Committee, the meeting decided that the
existing committee constituted under NFC would be further mandated to ensure
better coordination of the senior officials of Finance divisions of the
provinces and the Federal Government in matters relating to fiscal
consolidation.
In order to
resolve issues relating to EOBI and Workers Welfare Fund in post 18th
Constitutional Amendment scenario, the meeting decided to constitute a
Sub-Committee comprising of Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistan and Human
Resource Development, SAPM on Law, SAPM on Revenue, Provincial Labour
Ministers, Finance Secretary, Provincial Labor Secretaries and Secretary
Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.
The meeting
approved a proposal by the Ministry for Energy for amendment in Petroleum
Exploration and Production Policy, 2012.
The CCI
meeting also acceded to the request of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to
grant one-time relaxation for the award of one new exploration block to each
Provincial Holding Companies (PHC’s) without competitive bidding.
National
Water Policy was also presented during the meeting. It was decided that a
committee comprising of Chairman Planning Commission, Deputy Chairman Planning,
Secretaries of Planning, Water and Energy divisions and provincial
representatives be constituted for detailed scrutiny and analysis of the
proposed policy.
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