ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan announced huge relief for the masses in prices of petrol and electricity while addressing to the nation.
The Prime Minister said petrol price is being reduced by Rs10 per liter while electricity price will be decreased by Rs5 per unit. He also announced that the increase in prices will not be done until the next federal budget in June and the impact of global hike in price of petrol will also not affect the consumers for the next four months.
PM Imran Khan said the government has also decided to increase the Ehsaas programme’s cash handouts from Rs12,000 to Rs14,000. He added that jobless graduates would be given internships and a stipend of Rs30,000 would be awarded to them — but did not specify the mechanism.
In the future, power will be generated by hydropower and Pakistan would be spared price fluctuations due to the dams that are being constructed.
The Prime Minister said all IT companies and freelancers will be entitled to zero tax regime. He also announced to withdraw capital gain tax on IT startups.
Talking about industries, PM Imran Khan said people seeking to install industries or invest in the country would not be “asked any questions,” and a package would be announced later. He also said overseas Pakistanis eyeing to invest in local industries will be given a five-year tax exemption.
Independent foreign policy
At the outset of his speech, PM Imran Khan said since he began politics, he wanted a sovereign policy for Pakistan, which was not dependent on any other state and was solely for the country’s benefit.
Citing an example of a foreign policy that is dependent on other countries’ interests, he noted Pakistan supported the United States in its “War on Terror” that resulted in several casualties on home soil.
“I was against this war since day one. No Pakistani was involved in the 9/11 attacks,” the prime minister said, noting that when Pakistan partook in the Afghan war earlier, it was termed as “jihad”, but when the US invaded Afghanistan, Washington said it was going into Kabul to defeat terrorism.
PM Imran Khan said Pakistan suffered heavy losses in terms of human lives and capital. “As many as 80,000 Pakistanis were martyred, 3.5 million people were displaced, and the country suffered losses worth $150 billion.”
He said that there were only 10 drone attacks during the government of former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf but more than 400 drone attacks were conducted during the rule of democratic leaders such as Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari.
About his trip to Russia, the Prime Minister said it was necessary to visit Moscow as Pakistan needed to import wheat as well as for cooperation in the energy sector.
PECA laws and government’s aims
Regarding amendments in the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, the Prime Minister said this law was introduced in 2016 and his government is only amending the law to eliminate fake news, indecent content, especially the child pornography on social media.
He said around 94,000 cases are pending before the Federal Investigation Agency regarding harassment of women and indecency. He said only 38 of them have so far been decided, which shows the lacuna in law to deal with such acts. He said mafias are busy in blackmailing in the name of freedom of expression.
Imran Khan said credible journalists are a great asset for the country and they should be happy that PECA law will help end fake news.