National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that an Anti-Vehicle Lifting cell has been established to control vehicle theft from the Federal Capital.

Responding to a question during Question Hour, Minister of State for Interior Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju said that the Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell comprises 54 crime fighting personnel under the supervision of SSP Investigation Islamabad.

He said during the previous year, a total of 160 vehicles were recovered by the cell from the 195 accused persons stolen from Islamabad and other parts of the country. He said during the current year, 65 vehicles and 52 motorcycles were recovered. He said police patrolling has been enhanced with the direction to the concerned officers to conduct surprise checking at various pickets as a preventive measure.

The Minister of state also expressed the commitment to make Islamabad police a model force by providing latest equipment and required financial assistance. 

On a point raised by PPP leader Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto regarding payment of honoraria announced in the House for police officials, who performed duties during the budget session, the Chair directed the Finance Ministry to sort out the matter through supplementary grant and submit a compliance report within a week.

He also referred this matter to the concerned standing committee.

Answering another question, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju said Islamabad administration has taken a number of measures to check price hikes and is trying to maintain balance between supply and demand through curbing the tendency of price hike, profiteering, and hoarding to provide relief to common people.

Responding to a calling attention notice, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi opposed the suggestion for increasing the upper age limit from thirty to thirty five years for Government appointments. However, the chair referred the matter to the concerned standing committee for further deliberations.

Replying to another calling attention regarding shortage of water in Cholistan, Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah said water is being provided in the area to protect cattle and human lives.

He said Pakistan is facing a severe kind of drought due to climate change and we need to construct new dams and shift our agriculture to innovative techniques to conserve water.

Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif has said elements involved in spreading chaos, anarchy and disorder in the country should not be spared.

Speaking on the floor of the House, he stressed the need to uphold the Constitution and the law and respect the sanctity of vote. Without naming former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his followers, he said these people want to destabilize the country through their negative politics.

The House will now meet on Thursday at 11 a.m.