PA passes bill on overseas Pakistanis

LAHORE
The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission (Amendment) Bill 2015 while five other bills on the list of business were unable to be introduced and voted on due to the pathetic attendance of MPAs.
The Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 was also tabled in the House and referred to the Standing Committee on Education.
The Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission (Amendment) Bill 2015 as recommended by the Standing Committee on Services and General Administration was introduced in the House by Law Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman.
It changes the composition of the commission which has been operating for a few months in the province.
While Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is its chairperson and an overseas Pakistani nominated by the CM its vice-chairperson, the amendment grants women representation in the body with a place for a female MPA from a district with high number of Pakistanis working overseas and includes five others members having experience in issues relating to the community.
All amendments introduced by the opposition benches - including that of PML-Q’s Sardar Vickas Hassan Mokal, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mehmood-ur-Rasheed and Basima Chaudhry of PML-Q - were opposed by the law minister and the bill was passed without a single amendment incorporated in the bill.
Opposition members, including PML-Q’s Khadija Umar, criticised the government for bulldozing debate and not giving enough opportunity for further deliberation.
PML-Q’s Amir Sultan Cheema said it was an issue of great importance and needed eliciting of opinion from the House before being put to a vote. Mokal complained that the bill was an exact copy of the bill for a Federal Commission for Overseas Pakistanis passed by the National Assembly.
Saadia Sohail of PTI drew attention of the House to the state of Pakistani labourers working in boiling temperatures of the Middle East and demanded special attention to be paid to their problems.
Meanwhile, her colleague PTI MPA Arif Abbasi criticised the overrepresentation of bureaucrats in the commission and called for greater involvement of overseas Pakistanis.
The law minister, however, insisted that the bill had been placed on the Punjab Law Department website and the Standing Committee on S&GAD had met several times and refined the bill. “There is no need for it to be sent to a select committee for further deliberation,” he added.
The poor attendance of MPAs became a big problem for Punjab government as important legislations - including bills on upgrading Fatima Jinnah Medical College Lahore to a university and establishing University of Jhang - were not introduced. Quorum was pointed out four times by the members at different times during the session and the House failed to reach quorum despite having a break of nearly 45 minutes.
Prior to quorum being called and the assembly being adjourned for Friday, the law minister again opposed all amendments submitted by opposition members to the Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore Bill 2015.
PML-N MPA Dr Farzana Nazeer, a medical student from the college, opposed the granting of postgraduate degrees to male doctors by the university as she briefed the House on its history and importance to women aspiring to be doctors and nurses.
Due to her continuing tirade, the speaker shut down the mike and the House moved on to consider other amendments. However, Arif Mehmood of PML-N again pointed to lack quorum and the bill could not be considered. Later, the House was adjourned for Friday.