Unresolved: Opposition chides government over dismissal of employees
Says uncertainty prevails over pressing issues due to absence of ministers.
The issue was raised by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai. PHOTO: AFP
PESHAWAR:
Opposition lawmakers on Wednesday asked the government to retain 400 employees of the Agriculture and Livestock Department.
The issue was raised by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai on a point of order at the start of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session.
Nighat said the government had terminated the services of around 400 employees of the department. She asserted nearly 200 of these employees were peons and the government should employ poor people instead of firing them in such large numbers.
“If people had to be fired, the government could at least have waited till the end of Ramazan,” she argued. “It is not proper to snatch their bread at this moment and the government should resolve these issues.”
Nighat was supported by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Munawar Khan, who told the house the dismissed employees had visited the MPA hostel during the budget session. Khan added many of these employees were recommended by previous assembly members.
In the same vein, Sardar Aurganzeb Nalotha of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Awami National Party (ANP) MPA Mian Jaffer Shah asked the government to regularise another batch of contract employees in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
However, MPA Qalandar Lodhi asked the lawmakers to raise such issues through call attention notices instead of point of orders. “This is to ensure they are properly followed up,” he said.
ANP Parliamentary Leader Sardar Hussain Babak also spoke against the government workers’ dismissal. He said the former ANP-PPP coalition government had regularised over 3,000 contract doctors and teachers who were hired during the Muttahida Majlis Amal’s tenure. Babak argued 400 was a small figure in comparison, adding the government could absorb these people instead of terminating them.
Additionally, Babak asked Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid to issue a ruling ensuring the attendance of ministers. “Only four ministers are present, while most of the treasury benches are empty.”
In an attempt to pacify opposing lawmakers, Minister for Communication and Works Yousaf Ayub said the situation was unclear as the concerned minister was not present at the session. He pointed out these workers could have been shown the door because the work or project they were hired for had been completed. “We are not here to lay off people, and the government will look into this issue.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Zareen Zia told the house the joint committee tasked with granting admissions to medical colleges had left around 80 seats empty across the province, with 12 seats in Bannu Medical College alone. Zia said classes at Zulfiqar Medical College were due to start and demanded authorities adjust self-finance schemes on the vacant seats.
Neither the minister for education nor the advisor for higher education were present at the house, prompting Yousaf Ayub to assure Zia the issue would be looked in to.
Finally, the house passed the K-P Services Tribunal bill, and the session was prorogued for an indefinite period.
Dead in the water? Lack of consensus puts drone attack resolution on hold
A much talked about resolution against drone attacks could not be presented in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session that concluded on Wednesday, after the treasury and opposition benches failed to forge a consensus over its text.
The jointly-signed resolution was moved by Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq, Minister for Irrigation Sikandar Sherpao, Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai, Minister for Agriculture and Information Technology Shehram Tarakai and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl lawmaker Mufti Syed Janan.
On July 1, the resolution was deferred for a day after Janan objected the treasury benches had deleted a crucial clause calling for the stoppage of Nato supplies by the K-P government in case of continuing drone attacks. Consequently, it was not presented in the house on Tuesday and was expected to come to the fore when the session continued the following day. On Wednesday, only four of 14 ministers turned up for the session, with the four ministers who moved the resolution nowhere to be seen. Interestingly, the drone attack in North Waziristan on Tuesday did not come up either.
Janan told The Express Tribune the government wanted to include the closure of Nato supplies in Karachi as part of the clause in question.
“Imran Khan had arranged a sit-down in Peshawar, not Karachi. So why is the K-P government trying to put the onus on the Sindh government?” he questioned. Janan alleged the K-P government did not want to include the sentence because it wanted to place responsibility on the federal government. “The session concluded earlier than expected due to the provincial government’s reluctance in this regard.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2013.
Opposition lawmakers on Wednesday asked the government to retain 400 employees of the Agriculture and Livestock Department.
The issue was raised by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai on a point of order at the start of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session.
Nighat said the government had terminated the services of around 400 employees of the department. She asserted nearly 200 of these employees were peons and the government should employ poor people instead of firing them in such large numbers.
“If people had to be fired, the government could at least have waited till the end of Ramazan,” she argued. “It is not proper to snatch their bread at this moment and the government should resolve these issues.”
Nighat was supported by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Munawar Khan, who told the house the dismissed employees had visited the MPA hostel during the budget session. Khan added many of these employees were recommended by previous assembly members.
In the same vein, Sardar Aurganzeb Nalotha of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Awami National Party (ANP) MPA Mian Jaffer Shah asked the government to regularise another batch of contract employees in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
However, MPA Qalandar Lodhi asked the lawmakers to raise such issues through call attention notices instead of point of orders. “This is to ensure they are properly followed up,” he said.
ANP Parliamentary Leader Sardar Hussain Babak also spoke against the government workers’ dismissal. He said the former ANP-PPP coalition government had regularised over 3,000 contract doctors and teachers who were hired during the Muttahida Majlis Amal’s tenure. Babak argued 400 was a small figure in comparison, adding the government could absorb these people instead of terminating them.
Additionally, Babak asked Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid to issue a ruling ensuring the attendance of ministers. “Only four ministers are present, while most of the treasury benches are empty.”
In an attempt to pacify opposing lawmakers, Minister for Communication and Works Yousaf Ayub said the situation was unclear as the concerned minister was not present at the session. He pointed out these workers could have been shown the door because the work or project they were hired for had been completed. “We are not here to lay off people, and the government will look into this issue.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Zareen Zia told the house the joint committee tasked with granting admissions to medical colleges had left around 80 seats empty across the province, with 12 seats in Bannu Medical College alone. Zia said classes at Zulfiqar Medical College were due to start and demanded authorities adjust self-finance schemes on the vacant seats.
Neither the minister for education nor the advisor for higher education were present at the house, prompting Yousaf Ayub to assure Zia the issue would be looked in to.
Finally, the house passed the K-P Services Tribunal bill, and the session was prorogued for an indefinite period.
Dead in the water? Lack of consensus puts drone attack resolution on hold
A much talked about resolution against drone attacks could not be presented in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session that concluded on Wednesday, after the treasury and opposition benches failed to forge a consensus over its text.
The jointly-signed resolution was moved by Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq, Minister for Irrigation Sikandar Sherpao, Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai, Minister for Agriculture and Information Technology Shehram Tarakai and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl lawmaker Mufti Syed Janan.
On July 1, the resolution was deferred for a day after Janan objected the treasury benches had deleted a crucial clause calling for the stoppage of Nato supplies by the K-P government in case of continuing drone attacks. Consequently, it was not presented in the house on Tuesday and was expected to come to the fore when the session continued the following day. On Wednesday, only four of 14 ministers turned up for the session, with the four ministers who moved the resolution nowhere to be seen. Interestingly, the drone attack in North Waziristan on Tuesday did not come up either.
Janan told The Express Tribune the government wanted to include the closure of Nato supplies in Karachi as part of the clause in question.
“Imran Khan had arranged a sit-down in Peshawar, not Karachi. So why is the K-P government trying to put the onus on the Sindh government?” he questioned. Janan alleged the K-P government did not want to include the sentence because it wanted to place responsibility on the federal government. “The session concluded earlier than expected due to the provincial government’s reluctance in this regard.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2013.