According to NA, ministers’ international travel expenses totaled Rs65,2 million.

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Division has revealed the costs associated with ministers’ international travel in 2022.

The total amount spent was Rs. 65.2 million, with Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel spending the majority of this sum.

The Cabinet Division gave the written information about the ministers’ international trips during the National Assembly (NA) session.

25 federal ministers and ministers of state travelled abroad in 2022, according to the specifics.

The lower house was informed that the health minister spent more than Rs10.4 million on his travels abroad, while Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, spent more than Rs2.491 million on his travels and Miftah Ismail, his predecessor, spent more than Rs4.569 million.

Moreover, Rs649,157 were spent on Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb’s visit and over Rs2.644 million on Federal Minister Khurram Dastgir’s visit.

Lastly, over Rs4.917 were spent on the foreign visits of Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly (NA) session has been adjourned indefinitely due to the lack of interest and absence of lawmakers.

The deputy speaker expressed anger over the matter, and said that the ministers do not come to the house, and it cannot be run like this.

Moreover, on Monday, the schedule of the joint session of the parliament was changed. The session will now be held on March 15 at 4 pm, and a notification has been issued in this regard.

During the NA session presided over by Deputy Speaker Zahid Ikram Durrani, MNA Alia Kamran presented a notice calling attention to the increasing crimes against women in Islamabad.

Unfortunately, neither the interior minister nor the interior minister of state were present in the house to respond.

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The attention notification was therefore delayed until the minister’s arrival.

Khurram Dastgir, the energy minister, was scheduled to make a motion, but he was also absent from the chamber.

The deputy speaker voiced outrage about this and stated that this was not how the meeting could be run.

The NA meeting was then put on hold for an extended amount of time.

A measure to create the Kalam Bibi International Women’s Institute was introduced in the house during the session.

On the other hand, Ghous Baksh Khan Mahar pointed out that the country is suffering from financial difficulties while Rs65.2 million were spent on foreign trips.

The deputy speaker sent the matter to the concerned committee for details.