PA slams parliamentary secy for ‘irrelevant’ replies

LAHORE

The parliamentary secretary for culture and information faced severe criticism from the Punjab Assembly members across the divide on Wednesday after he failed to give relevant and factual answers to the queries of the legislators.

Rana Arshad, the parliamentary secretary for culture and information, underwent a testing time during the question hour session related to his department when he failed to satisfy the questioners who had asked questions about Bab-e-Pakistan project, alleged corruption in Loyallpur Museum, Faisalabad and Punjab government’s performance in the promotion of art, culture and literature.

The PA session, which started with a delay of over one hour with Speaker Rana Mohammed Iqbal Khan in the chair, held the question hour session related with livestock and dairy development, agriculture as well as information and culture.

Bilal Yasin and Dr Farrrukh Javed, the ministers for livestock and agriculture respectively responded to the relevant queries without much trouble. However, it was Rana Mhammad Arshad who remained in hot waters throughout the question hour session for lack of preparation and knowledge about the issues related with the department.

First to criticise him was none other than his own party member, Mian Tahir, a PML-N MPA elected from Faisalabad, who stated that the parliamentary secretary was not providing proper details and he even questioned his ‘seriousness.’

Tahir, posing a supplementary question, had asked Rana Arshed to provide details of the irregularities in the Loyalpur Museum.

Rana Arshad said the questioner should visit the museum and brief him about any such complaint. This answer invoked criticism against the parliamentary secretary from Mian Tahir who asked the Chair to take notice of what he was saying as answer. Mian Tahir said that rather than visiting the museum himself and providing answers to the queries of legislators, the parliamentary secretary was asking him to visit the place which could clearly indicate the level of seriousness on his part. These remarks offended the parliamentary secretary who started arguing with his own party member, on which, the Speaker urged him to ‘listen to the questions carefully.’

Later, the answers provided by him over the issue of Bab-e Pakistan, a monument to be built in the memory of martyrs of freedom movement and soldiers of Pakistan, also brought him and the PML-N government under criticism from the Opposition benches.

When asked what Punjab government had so far done for the completion of Bab-e-Pakistan project, Rana Arshad, once again came under criticism for giving an irrelevant answer. The parliamentary secretary, while responding to this question, started narrating the history and background of the project, on which, he faced criticism from the MPAs.

Rana Arshad said the project was handed over to the Pakistan Army by the then provincial government in 2005. He said the Punjab government would start work on it when it was handed over to it, adding that a letter in this regard had also been written to Pakistan Army.

Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed, the Opposition leader, reacted strongly to the answer given by the parliamentary secretary over Bab-e-Pakistan project.

Even after the Chair had announced conclusion of the question hour session, Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed on a point of order said the parliamentary secretary had totally misled the House, adding that the Punjab government had not spent a single penny on the project. He said that a strip related with the project was being used for commercial purpose, whereas, people were also using its land for their animals. The Opposition leader Mian Mehmood also urged the Speaker to take notice of it personally and said, "We all must fear Allah before Whom we are answerable for our deeds."

Dr Waseem Akhter, the parliamentary leader of Jamaat-e Islami, demanded the Speaker form a committee comprising parliamentarians to review the pace of work on the project.

Meanwhile, the ruling party MPAs, including Mian Tariq Mehmood and Amjad Ali Javed, expressed anger over the absence of the livestock secretary during the question hour session. Amjad Ali Javed, a PML-N MPA, elected from Toba Tek Singh, drew the attention of the Chair towards the absence of the secretary concerned during the question hour session.

He insisted that in his absence the question hour session should be made pending. Mian Tariq, another Treasury member, also expressed similar views and stated that this was clear violation of the ruling given by the Chair in the previous sessions. However, the Speaker didn’t allow Tariq Mehmood to speak further over the issue after Bilal Yasin, the provincial minister, told the House that the secretary had a hearing before a court.