Process for Nepra chief’s appointment changed

Senate panel sets 90-day timeframe for authority to replace chairman after tenure ends

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has specified a timeframe of three months for the appointment of the chairman of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) after the previous head of the regulator completes their term.

With Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair in the meeting held at the Parliament House, the body discussed ‘The Regulation of Generation, Transmission, and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2019’ moved by Senator Syed Shibli Faraz.

It reviewed the amendments sent to the Law Division for opinion relating to the time period for appointment of chairman, criteria, the procedure of inducting members from provinces and the minimum and maximum age limit for the chairman.

Senator Syed Shibli Faraz recommended removing the upper age limit and leaving it open to potential candidates of any age.

The committee chairman decided to discuss this amendment in the next meeting in the presence of all members. The committee also asked the law ministry to vet the bill after incorporating the amendments so that the bill could be passed in next meeting.

Senators Tahir Bizenjo, Dr Ashok Kumar, Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Najma Hameed, Rubina Khalid, Seemi Ezdi, Establishment Division secretary, Civil Aviation Authority Secretary, Energy department joint secretary, Nepra Chairman, Pubic Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) director general (DG), Airport Security Force DG ASF and officials from the departments concerned attended the meeting.

Regarding the regularisation of services of contractual employees of the National Institute of Management, Quetta, despite the ratification by the board of directors of the National School of Public Policy (NSPP), the committee members observed that regularisation policy for any and all federal government employees need to be uniform and non-discriminatory.

The minister for parliamentary affairs assured the committee that in about 45 days, matters pertaining to regularisation would be sorted out within the rules and prescribed framework of NSPP.

While discussing the procedure of procurement of materials, both technical and building, involved in the construction of a new airport in Islamabad as per PPRA rules and the details of assigning contracts for the construction of the airport to a foreign company, the committee observed that there had been violations in excessive numbers.

It observed that the many flaws in the project could be attributed to the weakness of PPRA as well as the project administration.

The PPRA DG informed that new PPRA rules were being drafted and that they would be shared in around 30 days.

The ASF director-general briefed the standing committee on the overall structure and functions of the department and measures taken for security protocols. The meeting was informed that the country has 24 operational and 18 non-operational airports and ASF has its presence at all operational airports. It was also informed that the recruitment drive was under way to hire 2,300 new personnel.