Absence of ministers irks NA deputy speaker

Increase in fines on traffic rules violators delayed, house told

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri on Thursday directed the ministers, state ministers and parliamentary secretaries to ensure their presence in the lower house during the Question Hour.

The deputy speaker’s ruling came in response to opposition lawmaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf request, who had asked the chair to issue warning to the ministries on their failure to answer questions of the members.

Ashraf said the members ask questions to get updated information, but when the relevant ministries did not reply, the process loses its worth. “It will be much better if the chair issue ruling and warning to the ministries failing to answer questions,” he added.

The deputy speaker, who was presiding over the session, said all the government officials were answerable to parliament and all ministers, state ministers, parliamentary secretaries and federal secretaries must ensure their presence in parliament during the Question Hour”.

Defence Minister Pervaiz Khan Khattak assured the opposition that presence of the ministers would be ensured during the Question Hour. He said the federal secretaries must also ensure their presence in parliament.

Meanwhile, responding to a point of order raised by Raja Riaz, Communications Minister Murad Saeed informed the House that increase in the fines on traffic violators on the highways and the motorways had been put off.

He told the lawmakers that the decision to increase fines was taken to ensure safety of the people, and not to enhancing revenue. The decision was to be implemented from January 1, but it had been put on hold. All the stakeholders would be consulted further on this issue.

“As per, Sustainable Development Goals, the ministry was given a target to decrease the rate of accidents in Pakistan,” he said. “The government for the first time made the road safety policy and the fines were increased with an objective to decreasing accidents.”

Earlier, speaking at the floor of the National Assembly, Saeed told the House that the government had paid compensation to the traders of Miranshah in North Waziristan for their losses during the military operations against terrorism.

“When we were in opposition, the traders of Waziristan protested in Islamabad and they were demanding compensation for their losses in the military operations,” he said. “It is their basic right that their livelihoods should be restored.”

Responding to another point of order, the minister assured that the government would take steps to resolve the issue of locust attack in Sindh. He also said Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued instructions for ensuring that sugarcane farmers get the right price for their produce.

During the session, Khurram Dastgir called on the government to take more steps to mitigate the sufferings of the Kashmiri people. Saeed said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a fascist and extremist leader and India had made life of Muslims miserable.

Responding to a call-attention notice of Syed Naveed Qamar, Parliamentary Secretary for National Food Security Sahibzada Amir Sultan informed House that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet had allocated Rs460 million to counter the locust attacks in Sindh.

“The government has already spent Rs300 million, 14,000 litres of medicines are available in Sindh for spray against the locust attack,” he said, adding that a national action plan had been adopted to counter the calamity.

Ghulam Ali Talpur said the locust had affected 12 districts of Sindh. Sultan responded that 28 teams, comprising 112 persons, 14 camps, seven vehicles and three airplanes had been deployed for the anti-locust spray in the province.

The Human rights ministry informed the House that 16 cases of custodial deaths were registered against the police in Punjab and one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The foreign affairs ministry said in a report that 308 Pakistanis were languishing in Afghan jails but the authorities in Kabul were reluctant to share their information.

During the Question Hour, the opposition protested against the absence of relevant ministers. Later, the proceedings were adjourned because of lack of quorum. The House will meet again on Friday.

With additional input from APP