ISLAMABAD   -   Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb during Friday’s National Assembly sitting informed the house that incumbent government had decided to revive the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the National Action Plan (NAP) to counter terrorism in Pakistan.

“To counter the current wave of terrorism, both the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the National Action Plan (NAP) will be revived,” said the minister, responding to a question about increasing incidents of terrorism in the country.

The minister, during the question hour, said that PTI government had not bothered to hold a single meeting of NACTA [Chaired by the Prime Minister] in its four-year era. In 2014, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had prepared Pakistan’s first national security policy.

After the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar attack, Minister said that the PML-N’s government in its previous tenure had prepared the National Action Plan to counter terrorism which was unanimously passed by Parliament. “Because of his [Imran Khan] ego, he ignored NACTA,” he said, adding that the former prime minister was also not ready to talk on the water crisis, polio eradication and terrorism in the country. “Because of his ego [Imran Khan] the provinces and the Centre were “detached” for the last few years,” she said adding that the entire mechanism of coordination [between the provinces and the Centre] has been outlined in it,” she said.

Minister further said the finances and coordination over the plan were completely halted due to poor understanding on the issues. She said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting on terrorism after assuming the charge. “We are now, once again, reviewing the National Action Plan.” To another question about maligning the state institutions, she said that maligning the state institutions including the Armed Force and the Judiciary on media will not be tolerated. “There is zero-tolerance policy in this regard and advisories and warnings have also been issued,” she said and regretted that Pakistan Tehreek –e - Insaf initiated an organized campaign against state institutions through its twitter handler. The minister said that PEMRA monitors and bans the indecent content on the media as per the relevant rules and regulations. Dr Fehmida Mirza, a senior member from GDA, raised the problem of the water crisis in different parts of the country. She also asked about the measures to counter the current wave of terrorism in the country. Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, responding to a question raised, said that Pakistan Clean Air Programme had been initiated to cope with the issue of pollution and improve air quality.

She said zigzag technology had been installed at brick-kilns to reduce air pollution. She said we have also made a commitment to convert to 60 percent renewable energy by 2030. She said we have the resources to produce energy from clean sources. To another question, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi told the House that present government was firming up a plan to promote digital literacy in country. He said that a project was currently being implemented under which 100 smart classrooms will be made functional in the universities by the end of this year. About 4G services, minister said 4G services were available in 89 percent area of the country and in the next nine months the whole country will be covered. “The government is also planning to launch 5G in the country,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Information Technology was in the process of finalising policy guidelines for 5G in consultation with other stakeholders. The house at the end of the proceedings unanimously passed the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (Amendment) Bill, 2022.