Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira rejects allegation of secret funds

Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has rejected the allegations of secret funds, saying that a specific impression was being created against the ministry through a propaganda campaign.

Speaking to the state-run television from Barcelona, Spain, the minister said that the propaganda was started by Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan now this impression was being reflected in the media.

He made it clear that the total budget of the ministry of information, according to the budget documents, was Rs 5.58 billion. Some Rs 3.4 billion out of total budget was allocated for Radio Pakistan as it was not an earning corporation, he added.

The minister further said that Rs 250 million were earmarked for Pakistan Television (PTV), the state-run TV channel.

He noted, “We have a number of organizations, including Directorate of Film Publication (DFP), Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) and Press Information Department (PID) while Rs 530 million are allocated for press attaches abroad”.

Commenting about the secret fund, the minister made it clear that Rs 100 million were reserved for special publicity fund while a small amount of Rs 12 million was kept under the head of secret fund.

“This amount is meant for the treatment of the ailing journalists and their family members, or their local and foreign tours”, he replied.

Moreover, he said that the media of numerous countries were invited to visit Pakistan and this budgetary allocation was used for providing them facilities.

He remarked, “Press clubs located in various parts of the country were also supported from this fund. Allegations of secret fund of Rs 4 billion or more were totally false, fabricated and baseless”.

Kaira asked the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the judges to thoroughly inquire this baseless allegation and clear the situation.

Assuring that all relevant record would be produced before the court, the minister was of the opinion that it was the responsibility of the court to take a stern action against those who tried to use the judiciary and spread mis-perception.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=32335

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Sep 8 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.