Acting KP speaker asks officers to work with devotion

PESHAWAR: Acting Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Dr Mehr Taj Roghani has urged government officers to discharge their duties with dedication by accepting all challenges as they shoulder great responsibilities.

She was talking to a group of Pakistan Management Services (PMS) and excise and taxation officers, who visited the provincial assembly on Monday.Mehr Taj is deputy speaker but is currently acting speaker because Speaker Asad Qaiser is serving as acting governor nowadays.

She said the government officers were vital part of the state and they have to play a key role in putting the country on path to progress and prosperity. Director General Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (PARD) Nighat Mehroz, deputy director programmes Faridullah Khattak and faculty member Turab Jadoon were also present.

Dr Mehr Taj said the officers faced challenges of coming up to the expectations of the nation as they are the machinery running the affairs.She lauded Nighat Mehroz for running PARD affairs appropriately and said her steps for improvement in the academy were not hidden.

Deputy Secretary of the assembly secretariat Hidayatullah briefed the visiting officers about the assembly’s rules of business.He said standing committees were being constituted to have a check on the working and performance of various administrative departments. He said a standing committee consisted of maximum of nine MPAs. However, the number of members in the public accounts committee was 10, he added.

The official said the incumbent assembly had 36 standing committees. He also shed light on cut motions, private member bills and point of order. About legislation, he said the incumbent government had enacted record number of 94 bills during the period starting from May 29, 2013.

To a question, he said a member remaining absent without valid reason from the session for 40 consecutive days stood disqualified. “The chief minister is represented by law minister, advisors and parliamentary secretaries if he is not attending the session,” he added. He said the governor’s veto power is limited as a bill automatically becomes an act if he does not sign it in 10 days while he has no authority to return a money bill. Later, the visiting officers went around various sections of the assembly, including the hall and library.