close
Thursday March 28, 2024

‘Sons of Gillani, Taseer in Afghanistan’

LAHORETHE government again failed to maintain quorum in Punjab Assembly for the second consecutive day Friday while trying to legislate the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Bill, and had to eat humble pie by adjourning the proceedings for Monday without passing the said Bill. The tiny but hostile Opposition kept

By Asim Hussain
February 21, 2015
LAHORE
THE government again failed to maintain quorum in Punjab Assembly for the second consecutive day Friday while trying to legislate the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Bill, and had to eat humble pie by adjourning the proceedings for Monday without passing the said Bill.
The tiny but hostile Opposition kept embarrassing the treasury benches by indicating the quorum while the Bill was under discussion. On Friday, PPP’s Khurram Jahangir Wattoo indicated the lack of quorum after the House had voted out three out of the four amendments moved by the Opposition benches in the Bill. The worried Deputy Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani adjourned the proceedings to save the treasury from more embarrassment as several members, including some of the treasury benches had started mocking the quorum by shouting and booing at the Law Minister Shuja Khanzada, who was representing the education minister and other colleagues in the cabinet.
The opposition had also indicated the quorum nearly an hour earlier but the vigilant ministers managed to muster the members from the lobby and other parts of the assembly premises to keep the least required number. But on the second time, it looked as if the deputy speaker was aware and majority of members had already left since he had extended the time for 30 minutes to complete the quorum-hit legislative business of the previous day which was left incomplete. He waited for just five minutes while the bells were rung and then announced adjournment.
Many opposition members, including Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dr Waseem Akhtar criticised the government for displaying extreme lack of interest in running House which was evident from the absence of the education minister while an important legislation regarding his ministry as under process. Besides, those opposition members who had proposed amendments in the Bill were frustrated that none of their input was incorporated in the Bill. They questioned the rationale behind asking for the input of the Opposition members if it was not to be considered at all. They asked why the government was wasting the time of the House and money and why not simply pass the bill on its own and decide the fate of future generations. Earlier, during the question hour, Home Minister Shuja Khanzada told the House that the abducted sons of former slain governor Salman Taseer and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani were in Afghanistan and the efforts were underway for bringing them back. To a question, he said 324 incidents of kidnapping for ransom took place during the last two years and in majority of the cases the abductors were found to be from the KP areas, including Dargai, Attock and others, he said the Punjab government identified some gangs, eliminated some of them and was trying to control the situation. He said in the past the number of kidnapping for ransom cases was much higher because government agencies lacked sophisticated tools of detection like IT systems, adding that the Punjab government had set up a modern Forensic Lab near Thokar Niaz Beg to monitor and detect the criminals. Besides, government was also installing around 10,000 to 15,000 CCTV cameras in the city to monitor both crimes and traffic. He said the government lacked required number of police personnel, saying there was one policeman for every 1,250 citizens which should have been 1:450 to meet the international standards. He said the government intended to increase the police stations and purchase lands for shifting the police stations being run on rented premises. Several lady members from the treasury benches on a point of order protested against the delay in increasing their salaries which, they claimed, were as meagre as those of the police constables. Led by Aeysha Javed and some other lady members, these MPAs referred to the rules, saying that their salaries should be increased correspondingly every time the salaries of the MPAs in other provinces and in National Assembly were raised. Interestingly, the Opposition members, both males and females, supported their demand, forcing the deputy speaker to ask Finance Ministers and secretaries of Law and Finance to meet him the chambers on Monday to discuss the issue. The members referred to a number of privilege motions pending before the House on the issue, and said it should be considered that many of the lady MPAs on reserved seats hailed from middle class families and needed decent income.