ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on Tuesday passed the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority (Amendment) Bill 2020 with majority votes.
The meeting, chaired by MNA Junaid Akbar, discussed in detail the draft of the bill and decided to pass it unanimously.
Earlier, the NA body inquired from the Ministry of Planning about the salary package being given to the incumbent CPEC chairman. The ministry replied that no salary was being paid to the chairman as he did not sign any memorandum of understanding in this regard following the expiry of the CPEC Ordinance.
Those who submitted their note of dissent against the bill included Muhammad Sajjad, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhary, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar and Syed Agha Rafiullah.
Meanwhile, the committee directed Higher Education Commission (HEC) to give a detailed briefing on its financial needs so that additional funds could be recommended for its uplift.
It also asked HEC to give reasons as to why scholarships to students who were receiving higher education abroad were stopped.
The commission replied that they had not stopped the scholarships, and that universities all over the world were not accepting foreign students due to the spread of Covid-19.
