KP Assembly passes two amendment bills

PESHAWAR: The KP Assembly passed two bills on Thursday seeking amendments to the Establishment of District Development Advisory Committee (DDAC) Bill and Local Governments Bill.
The assembly adopted a resolution demanding legislation for ensuring women’s right to vote.
The assembly, presided over again by the panel of chairpersons head Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) in the absence of Speaker Asad Qaiser, passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Establishment of District Development Advisory Committee (Amendment) Bill 2015 jointly presented by Sardar Muhammad Idrees of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Munawwar Khan and Shah Hussain of the opposition Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).
The bill introduced amendment to Section 3 of Act IV of 1989, which reads: “The district, city district and tehsil/town nazim as the case may be, be co-opted as member of the committee.” While amendment in the existing section 5 of the Act says: “All development schemes executed through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) shall be routed through the DDAC in order to avoid any duplication.”
Members from both the ruling alliance and opposition took active part in the debate over the amendment as the treasury bench was seen divided.
Except Inayatullah, Deena Naz, Nageena Khan and Meraj Humayun, all the members supported the bill. They argued that NGOs’ work should be checked and monitored through elected public representatives.
After a long debate, the acting speaker put the bill before the House for vote and it was passed without any opposition.
As it was a Private Members’ day, a PPP lawmaker, Nighat Orakzai presented a bill seeking amendment to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013. The new bill allows the government to exempt any area or areas from any provision of the Act No XXVIII of 2013.
Actually the amendment is about the government’s action against commercial activities in residential areas. Though Senior Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah opposed the amendment by arguing that already there was a provision in the original bill, the opposition insisted that the amendment further empowered the government and should not be opposed. The minister agreed not to oppose it and the bill was unanimously passed.