Time for a trim: K-P govt relieves 22 parliamentary secretaries

Insiders claim the move will enable the PTI to appoint these lawmakers to standing committees.

PESHAWAR:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Wednesday decided to relieve 22 MPAs of their duties as parliamentary secretaries.

Sources privy to the matter said the provincial government has decided to issue a notification to this effect, retaining only 10 of the earlier appointed 32 parliamentary secretaries, who had not yet been assigned any department. The 10 MPAs who would retain their parliamentary secretary slots have now been assigned specific departments to defend and answer queries related to in the K-P Assembly when the concerned minister is not available.



The 10 parliamentary secretaries include Khaliquz Zaman, who has been assigned the planning and development department; Tufail Anjum, who has been assigned excise and taxation; Ubaidullah Mayar with mines and minerals; Arif Yusuf with works and services; Ayesha Naeem with public health engineering; Nargis with relief, rehabilitation and settlement authority; Dena Naz with social welfare; Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli with environment; Meraj Humayun with labour; and Muhammad Ali Tarakai with elementary and secondary education.

Despite repeated claims of the provincial government that the 32 parliamentary secretaries will not be granted additional perks and privileges for their services as the same, an insider said the 10 retained parliamentary secretaries will receive around Rs10,000 under the head of allowances.

The official also maintained the 22 MPAs were relieved of their duties as parliamentary secretaries in order to spare them for taking on the responsibilities of standing committees in the K-P Assembly. The government has come under fire for not yet notifying standing committees despite a lapse of over six months since assuming charge.

He said a person holding the office of parliamentary secretary cannot legally be appointed to the standing committees of the assembly, adding the move will now allow these MPAs to take on responsibilities in the latter.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lawmaker Rashida Riffat, who was one of the earlier parliamentary secretaries appointed without a specific department, confirmed they have been relieved of their duties. “We have been called for a meeting on November 18 [to discuss] further line of action in this regard,” she told The Express Tribune.

PTI lawmaker Ishtiaq Urmar also corroborated the development, saying: “The step has been taken in preparation of forming standing committees of the K-P Assembly and to shoulder the responsibilities in this regard.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th,2013.