67,771 overseas Pakistanis lost jobs and returned home, ministry informs NA

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has told the National Assembly that in all 67,771 overseas Pakistanis have lost jobs abroad and got themselves registered on the web portal as overseas returnees since 2020.

To a question raised by PPP MNA Shazia Marri on Wednesday, the ministry said that these overseas Pakistanis were being supported through Overseas Pakistani Foundation (OPF) which distributed toolkits among them so that they could achieve sustainable self-employment in Pakistan.

According to the ministry, out of total 95,588 overseas returnee migrant workers, 67,771 mentioned reason of their return as ‘laid off’ while 27,817 returnees mentioned reason of their return as ‘leave.’

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The ministry maintained that there was no financial assistance envisaged for the returnee. It stated that data of approximately 80,500 returnee migrants was available with Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC). A total of 52 trade-specific toolkits were distributed among them in a ceremony organised by OPF on November 11, 2021 in Islamabad.

Moreover, the Ministry of Interior in response to a question put forward by a lawmaker about the establishment of Model Prison in Islamabad during the question hour told the house that a Model Prison at H-16 Islamabad was under construction for which Rs1, 667million has already been utilised.

According to the interior ministry, the project for a prison in Islamabad was approved by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on July 20, 2016 at the cost of Rs3.9 billion. Rs800 million have been allocated under the PSDP in the current fiscal year of 2021-22.

It is pertinent to mention here that the complete question hour proceedings couldn’t take place due to adjournment of the sitting of the House.

Earlier, the session of the National Assembly started its proceeding under the chair of NA Speaker Asad Qaisar.

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PPP MNA Syed Naveed Qamar before the start of question hour on point of order raised concerns over so many ordinances which were part of the agenda of the Lower House of the Parliament.

He said there were eight ordinances which were part of the order of the day which he said was an insult to the Parliament. “We don’t want to become part of governance like it and we are not only staging walk out from the House (to mark protest) but we are also point out quorum,” he stated.

After pointing out quorum the opposition parties including the PPP and PML-N made walk out from the House. The speaker ordered for the count and he adjourned the session till Friday when it was found that quorum was not in order.