Madrassa reform bill on the cards

Law to deal with registration of seminaries across Sindh

KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to introduce the Sindh Madrassah Registration Bill, 2016 through which every seminary will have to be approved by the local commissioner, informed adviser to chief minister (CM) on law, Murtaza Wahab, on Saturday.

He was addressing the media after the Sindh cabinet meeting along with the CM’s information adviser, Maula Bux Chandio.



Wahab explained that a new process of registration will be introduced for existing seminaries which have to obtain no-objection certificates from the deputy commissioner, superintendent of police, Sindh Building Control Authority and religious authorities. Talking to The Express Tribune, he remarked that the registration will be for a period of two years after which it will be renewed accordingly.

The right to information act also came under discussion during the cabinet meeting in which every citizen would have the right to get the desired information from any government department, he said, adding that the bill on NGOs also came under discussion in which the registration process and funding of NGOs will be made accountable.



Meanwhile, legislation on a conflict of interest bill as well as an amendment in the Sindh Arms Act, 2013 was also discussed by the cabinet members. Talking to the media personnel, Chandio claimed the National Action Plan (NAP) is not being implemented throughout the country. He remarked, however, that the Sindh government is in the forefront in implementing the NAP. “We are trying to bring changes in the province with lawmaking to effectively implement the NAP,” he said.

He also assured the residents of Karachi that there is no reality behind ‘news’ of kidnappings of children and accused the Punjab government of creating unnecessary hype by spreading false rumours of rising kidnapping cases in Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.