KP Assembly passes Provincial Services Academy Bill

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday unanimously passed the Provincial Services Academy (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
The Board of Investment and Trade Bill, 2015 was also introduced in the assembly. Sardar Hussain Babak of the Awami National Party (ANP) accused the government of bulldozing the legislation and said the bills were being passed without proper debate.
However, Speaker Asad Qaiser said the assembly secretariat adopted proper procedure in legislation and the bills were sent to all the lawmakers before being passed.
Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha on a point of order raised the issue of landsliding in Havelian and said about 40 villages were cut off from Abbottabad.
He said though the district administration had provided tents and food items, the affected villages were still in danger. He said the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) had issued a wrong statement about dispatching heavy machinery to the spot.
“I visited the site yesterday, but no machinery was there to clear the road. The PDMA should not issue incorrect statements,” he added. He said a mobile dispensary should be sent to the affected village where those living in more than 250 houses were stranded due to the landsliding.
Aurangzeb Nalotha said the road should be cleared or an alternate route be provided within a couple of days or else the people would stage protest. He maintained that being an elected representative he would be compelled to join the protesters.
Advisor to Chief Minister on Information Mushtaq Ghani said that tents, blankets and food items were supplied to the affected population and survey had been completed to construct an alternate route as repair of the damaged road was not possible.
MPA Najma Shaheen on a call attention notice sought completion of a bridge on Kohat Road that was causing hardship to the people coming and going to the southern districts of the province.
Through another call attention notice, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha drew the attention of the House towards the allotment of official flats to government employees.
He said since the flats would be handed over to the Administration Department next month it should be ensured that these were allotted grade-wise and as per the service seniority formula.
Answering the question by ANP’s Syed Jafar Shah, Minister for Education Mohammad Atif Khan assured him that the vacant seats of teachers would soon be filled.
He said the education department recruited 12,500 teachers last year and about 13,000 more would be recruited by December 2015 as about 177,000 candidates had applied for the jobs. He added that the process of verification of candidates was going on and it would be completed by next month.
To another question about the establishment of 356 small hydel power stations in the province, he said work on 105 units was in progress while stay was granted by the courts on 76 schemes due to disputes over selection of the sites.
Atif Khan asked the assembly members to identify more sites in their areas as the government was ready to construct small hydel power stations other than the announced 356 ones. He said the 105 power houses upon completion would generate 6,055 kilowatts electricity.
The debate on the adjournment motion about the post-quake situation was taking place in the assembly when the speaker adjourned the session for Tuesday. Sardar Hussain Babak and Jafar Shah of ANP and Bakht Baidar of the Qaumi Watan Party had moved the adjournment motion.