2,543 govt officials took benefit of BISP, NA told

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that 2,543 government officials from BPS-17 to BPS-21 continued to take benefit from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Minister for Communication Murad Saeed during the question hour said that names of these officials who belong to the centre and four provincial governments have been included in the BISP. The list includes 449 officials of BPS-17, 342 officials of BPS-18, 30 officials of BPS-19 and 29 officers of BPS-20.

As Minister for Communication wanted to speak more on the issue, the Presiding Officer Syed Fakhar Imam who was chairing the proceedings in absence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, asked the questioner to come up with fresh question as no debate on any issue could be allowed during the question hour.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs while responding to a question said that names of over 800,000 non-deserving persons have been excluded from the programme. He said a tremendous programme named after Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was launched but those people who also own vehicles and used to travel abroad continued to take benefit from it. Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf wanted the government to give details and reasons behind exclusion of over 820,000 people from the BISP.

Earlier, the proceedings of the House were suspended when the PPP parliamentarian Agha Rafiullah pointed out that ministers concerned were not present to respond to questions.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood clarified that no change has been made in the examination system of metric and intermediate.

He, however, said the government is considering reintroducing the board exams of class eight adding the examination boards also prepared a timetable under which the boards of education will announce results before August 15.

Shafqat Mahmood told the House that a special programme for the skill development of the youth is being launched tomorrow. He said under this programme 170,000 youth will be trained in the next twenty months in diverse fields. He assured that the youth of Balochistan will be fully accommodated in this training programme.

The minister said that the government is focusing on improving the access, quality and relevance of higher education adding the government also plans to provide fifty thousand scholarships to undergraduate students.

Meanwhile, the House executed the whole business on Wednesday during which over 50 bills were introduced.

The bills besides others include the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Amendment bill, 2020; The Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, the Constitution Amendment Bill (Article 31); The Minorities Educational Seats Bill; The Institute of Art and Culture Amendment Bill; The Constitution Amendment Bill ( Article 251); The Criminal Laws Amendment Bill Section (510); The Women in Distress and Detention Fund Amendment Bill; The Constitution Amendment bill (Amendment in Third Schedule); The Constitution Amendment bill (Article 140A); Criminal Laws Amendment bill (Section 292); The Elections Amendment Bill; The Minorities Access to Higher Education Bill; The Juvenile Justice System Amendment Bill and The Islamic Development Bank Amendment Bill.