KP Assembly passes mass transit bill amid rumpus

Opposition lawmaker complains speaker is partial

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed the KP Urban Mass Transit Bill 2016 on Monday amid rumpus as the opposition said the legislation was carried out in haste.

The opposition lawmakers raised objections when Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, who presided over the session, put it to vote and declared it adopted as the treasury benches said “yes”.

The opposition members stood on their seats, saying they were not given time to debate the bill. They gathered in front of the speaker’s seat and demanded debate over the bill. However, the speaker said it was now passed.

Taking the floor, Sardar Hussain Babak of the Awami National Party (ANP) said the speaker didn’t act impartially and sided with the treasury benches.

He said it was violation of the rules of business that a bill was passed in haste and the opposition was not given time to debate. He said the opposition lawmakers were deprived of their right of expression.

The ANP leader warned that the opposition MPAs would conduct the session if the speaker remained partial. He said the bill should be discussed clause-wise.Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman said that according to the rules a bill can be passed within three days while this bill was passed after 12 days.

He said the members should have introduced their amendments, if they had any, during the last 12 days.“If the assembly discusses a bill clause-wise, a piece of legislation would take years while the said bill was vital and of public interest as the provincial capital needed a modern public transport facility,” Shah Farman argued. Giving her ruling, the speaker said the bill was introduced on October 5 but the opposition didn’t bring any amendment and it was put before the House for vote and was passed by the majority.

Earlier, Mufti Janan of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) speaking on a call attention notice said the Education Department wanted to make changes in the curriculum and had replaced some Islamic contents in the syllabus.

He said that some time back the senior minister who belongs to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had assured the House that no changes would be made in the syllabus. However, he added that the JI provincial chief in a statement recently said that changes were being introduced in the syllabus.

“The JI members should clear their position whether they were correct or the statement of their leader was true. We would offer strong resistance if any Islamic content or chapter was removed from the syllabus.

In his reply, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Higher Education and Information Mushtaq Ghani said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government can’t even think of making any change in the syllabus contrary to the teachings of Islam.

He said the curriculum wing in the Education Department was making necessary changes in accordance with the requirements of the modern age and these were not contrary to Islamic injunctions.

The speaker dropped for next time the question of Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) about transport for the students of Special Education School, Hayatabad.

He said there were eight buses for pick and drop facility of students of the school in question, but after the school’s takeover by the provincial government from the federal government the funds were not being released for fuel and the students might face transportation problem.

Mushtaq Ghani wanted to respond to the question, but the mover objected, arguing that the minister concerned should answer his question. He said Mushtaq Ghani was replying to all the questions. “The government was making mockery of the House and ministers were not attending the session,” Aurangzeb Nalotha stressed.