Questions, answers, referrals: Land grabbing issue continues as districts fail to cooperate
Civil Servants Retirement Benefits and Death Compensation (Amendment) Bill 2016 tabled
K-P Assembly. PHOTO: AFP
PESHAWAR:
As the government admitted its helplessness in the house in failing to stop land grabbers, opposition members relentlessly questioned “why”, during the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session on Monday.
The proceedings occurred after prayers for people who lost their lives in the Lahore blast. Asad Qaiser, the K-P Assembly speaker asked lawmakers to submit a joint resolution condemning the attack in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park of Lahore which would be introduced in Tuesday’s (today) sitting.
Illegal land seizure
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker Sardar Zahoor Awan raised the issue of land grabbers when he asked Ministry of Zakat & Usher, Auqaf, Hajj and Religious Affairs to elucidate on the department’s efforts to recover land from illegal occupants in Mansehra.
According to the department, 5,396 kanals of their land in Mansehra was under illegal occupation – taken by other government departments and/or transferred illegally in peoples’ names in 1950. Department minister Habibur Rehman, who is from Jamaat-e-Islami, admitted to his helplessness in recovering his department’s land, saying district administrations across the province were not cooperating.
Rehman, who, always gives clear answers to queries in the house, said he had sent a letter to the chief minister complaining about the lack of cooperation. The CM formed a committee chaired by himself but the body could only meet once a year, said Rehman.
He said the Supreme Court decided to give 36,113 kanals of land to the department, “but we cannot get possession and need the support of district administration and police.” According to Rehman, a majority of land grabbing cases were in courts and his department has escalated work on the litigations. When Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of PML-N enquired about barricades and subsequent government inaction, Qaiser asked Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan to respond. “We will take up the issue with the CM and resolve it,” Inayatullah said.
Sardar Babak of ANP asked the speaker to give a ruling to make the job easy in all areas where land was taken illegally. Inayatullah, however, called it a “very sensitive issue” and requested the speaker not to give any ruling over as he feared if the government failed to recover the land, the speaker’s decorum will be affected.
At the end of the discussion, the question was referred to the house’s concerned standing committee.
Land record computerisation
In reply to questions, the revenue department stated 95% of the work due to take place in phase one had been completed in DI Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad and Buner. Work on service delivery centres in districts was under way. It added phase two of the programme includes 12 districts and while 30% of land record computerisation had been completed, work would end in 2019.
PML-N lawmaker Sobia Khan was dissatisfied with the department’s answer and criticised them for slow progress.
In the absence of the concerned minister, Shah Farman was asked to respond and he said the questions were answered completely and Sobia was questioning efficiency of the government. “If she can give any suggestions for further improvement, she is welcome, otherwise the answers are plain and clear,” he said. Farman added this was the first government to have taken this initiative.
Legislation
Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said tabled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Civil Servants Retirement Benefits and Death Compensation (Amendment) Bill 2016 which defines the amount of money civil servants will get at the time of retirement.
The bill is likely to be criticised by civil servants who are retiring in the first five years on the commencement of the act. This is because the bill is silent on money deduction from their salaries in group insurance during their service.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2016.
As the government admitted its helplessness in the house in failing to stop land grabbers, opposition members relentlessly questioned “why”, during the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session on Monday.
The proceedings occurred after prayers for people who lost their lives in the Lahore blast. Asad Qaiser, the K-P Assembly speaker asked lawmakers to submit a joint resolution condemning the attack in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park of Lahore which would be introduced in Tuesday’s (today) sitting.
Illegal land seizure
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker Sardar Zahoor Awan raised the issue of land grabbers when he asked Ministry of Zakat & Usher, Auqaf, Hajj and Religious Affairs to elucidate on the department’s efforts to recover land from illegal occupants in Mansehra.
According to the department, 5,396 kanals of their land in Mansehra was under illegal occupation – taken by other government departments and/or transferred illegally in peoples’ names in 1950. Department minister Habibur Rehman, who is from Jamaat-e-Islami, admitted to his helplessness in recovering his department’s land, saying district administrations across the province were not cooperating.
Rehman, who, always gives clear answers to queries in the house, said he had sent a letter to the chief minister complaining about the lack of cooperation. The CM formed a committee chaired by himself but the body could only meet once a year, said Rehman.
He said the Supreme Court decided to give 36,113 kanals of land to the department, “but we cannot get possession and need the support of district administration and police.” According to Rehman, a majority of land grabbing cases were in courts and his department has escalated work on the litigations. When Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of PML-N enquired about barricades and subsequent government inaction, Qaiser asked Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan to respond. “We will take up the issue with the CM and resolve it,” Inayatullah said.
Sardar Babak of ANP asked the speaker to give a ruling to make the job easy in all areas where land was taken illegally. Inayatullah, however, called it a “very sensitive issue” and requested the speaker not to give any ruling over as he feared if the government failed to recover the land, the speaker’s decorum will be affected.
At the end of the discussion, the question was referred to the house’s concerned standing committee.
Land record computerisation
In reply to questions, the revenue department stated 95% of the work due to take place in phase one had been completed in DI Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad and Buner. Work on service delivery centres in districts was under way. It added phase two of the programme includes 12 districts and while 30% of land record computerisation had been completed, work would end in 2019.
PML-N lawmaker Sobia Khan was dissatisfied with the department’s answer and criticised them for slow progress.
In the absence of the concerned minister, Shah Farman was asked to respond and he said the questions were answered completely and Sobia was questioning efficiency of the government. “If she can give any suggestions for further improvement, she is welcome, otherwise the answers are plain and clear,” he said. Farman added this was the first government to have taken this initiative.
Legislation
Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said tabled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Civil Servants Retirement Benefits and Death Compensation (Amendment) Bill 2016 which defines the amount of money civil servants will get at the time of retirement.
The bill is likely to be criticised by civil servants who are retiring in the first five years on the commencement of the act. This is because the bill is silent on money deduction from their salaries in group insurance during their service.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2016.