The ordinance to alter the NAB received approval from Cabinet.
Additionally, the Hajj Policy 2023 and the National Clean Air Policy were both approved by Cabinet.
ISLAMABAD: On the suggestion of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the federal cabinet approved the National Accountability Amendment Ordinance 2023 on Thursday.
Due to the recent changes made to the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999, it became challenging to transfer many cases to other courts, tribunals, and forums that did not fall under the purview of the NAB statute.
The NAB Ordinance XVIII was modified after extensive stakeholder input, giving the accountability courts a legal foundation for referring cases to other courts and forums.
The changes would also dispel the idea that crimes in situations not covered by the NAB Ordinance were no longer punishable by law.
The National Clean Air Policy and the Hajj Policy 2023 were both approved by the cabinet.
The government should put together a thorough and effective plan as soon as possible in collaboration with Saudi Arabian officials, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was presiding over the cabinet meeting, in order to offer pilgrims the best possible travel and lodging options during the Hajj.
He expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Climate Change for developing the Clean Air Policy and gave the go-ahead for all required actions to be made to ensure its successful implementation.
The new policy was presented to the cabinet for approval by the Ministry of Climate Change. The cabinet was informed that in several major cities, air pollution had reached alarming heights in the previous years.
The cities with the worst air pollution were Karachi and Lahore, according to the Air Quality Index Report 2022-23. It said that the average lifespan of people was 2.7 years shorter as a result of air pollution.
According to a 2016 World Bank analysis, the air pollution issue was severely harming Pakistan’s economy.
The number of accidents brought on by smog in cities and various illnesses has skyrocketed in recent years.
The Ministry of Climate Change created a thorough policy addressing several topics, such as safeguarding residents’ health, taking action to minimise yearly deaths, promoting agriculture, and lowering air pollution.
In order to modernise agriculture, effectively stop the burning of crop waste, adopt international standards for waste management, use low emission gases for cooking, and encourage and promote fuel upgrade from Euro 5 standard to Euro 6 standard.
The implementation of the programme would result in a 40% reduction in toxic gas emissions during the following ten years. A National Action Committee, which would provide long-term advice for its implementation and also bring modifications in it after every five years bearing in mind the ground realities, would ensure the efficient implementation of policy.
Additionally, a technical committee would be established to develop a plan for ensuring that the policy is implemented and to provide regular updates to the National Action Committee.
Also, the committee would offer suggestions for removing roadblocks to the policy’s implementation.
The average lifespan in Pakistan could rise by two years as a result of the clean air policy’s implementation.
Also, a strategy for fuel conservation was presented to the cabinet. The ministries of power, petroleum, industry, commerce, and information were said to be striving to guarantee that the goals established by the cabinet were carried out.
The Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) decisions from its meetings on March 1 and March 6 were also approved by the cabinet. Also, it approved the choices made by the Cabinet Committee for Legislative Matters at its March 6 meeting.
