ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed Friday that 1554 terrorists have been arrested during the last year.
Parliamentary Secretary for Interior Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla told the House during question hour that out of these 799 were arrested from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 418 from Punjab, 178 from Sindh, 40 from Balochistan and rest from Islamabad Capital Territory, FATA, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
To a question, the Parliamentary Secretary said that comparison of crime rates of years 2015 and 2016 shows the declining crime trend in Islamabad Capital Territory. He said preventive measures taken by ICT police have helped to decrease crime in Islamabad. These include survey of Katchi Abadis to flush out criminals hiding there, combing and search operations, random checking of guest houses and hotels and joint patrolling by Panjnad Rangers and ICT police.
Answering a question, Parliamentary Secretary for Interior told the House that Official and Gratis Passports were issued to 2002 non-entitled persons prior to June, 2013. However, these passports were cancelled and made inactive under the present government on the instructions of Minister of Interior. He said now the issuance of Official and Gratis Passports is strictly according to the laid down policy. To another question, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan told the House that government borrowings from State Bank of Pakistan during fiscal year 2013-14 were 159.7 billion rupees. However, the government retired SBP borrowings of 434.3 billion rupees and 475 billion rupees during fiscal year 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.
He said during the last three and a half years an average amount of 41 billion rupees was borrowed on annual basis, therefore borrowing from SBP is not excessive which may hamper the structural reforms of the economy.
Replying to a question, Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan told the House that the growth of Islamic Banking System is more than the normal banking system. He pointed out that the government is encouraging the growth of Islamic Banking System in the country and the people have choice to select Islamic Banking System or Commercial Banking System.INP
