After six months, the federal cabinet gave its approval for the payment of Rs. 823 million to the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) for the purchase of boat engines for 3,291 underprivileged fishermen in Gwadar.
According to sources, the federal cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, authorised the payment of Rs. 823 million to the GPA on Wednesday in order to buy boat engines for 3,291 underprivileged fishermen in Gwadar.
The finance ministry will immediately provide the funds to the GPA at a rate of Rs. 250,000 per person to purchase a boat engine for each fisherman, it was announced during the meeting.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs will complete the necessary procedures to give eligible fishermen free engines for their fishing boats and to make sure that recipients should be chosen through a transparent poll based on certain criteria.
The Planning Commission received a project case that the marine ministry had prepared to deliver 2,000 engines to the fishermen for Rs. 500 million over the course of a year.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet granted the marine ministry’s request last week to withdraw the Planning Commission’s Form-1 (PC-I) and ask it to return the Rs. 500 million previously set aside for the programme in the budget.
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