Private employment: Govt rejects bill seeking bar on civil servants
PML-N MNAs criticise govt for ignoring farmers’ interests
ISLAMABAD:
The government on Tuesday opposed key legislation pertaining to a bar on civil servants to work in private organisations during their service. The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was tabled in the National Assembly by PPP MNA Dr Nafeesa Shah, but it couldn’t sail through due to opposition from Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Aftab Sheikh and Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid.
The deputy speaker referred the Bill, which has already been cleared by the Senate, to the relevant standing committee for further discussion. Opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah and others criticised the government for creating hurdles in legislation pertaining to the issue.
“I don’t understand why the government damages its own performance by creating hurdles in such a key legislation,” said Shah. “This is why the government was able to only pass five bills during its tenure so far, as compared to the PPP-led government, which passed a record number of 137 legislative bills during its five-year tenure.”
The opposition members said the right to work for private organisations simultaneously has damaged the performance of civil servants as they neglect official duties. “At present there is no bar on civil servants who wish to work in donor agencies and with international NGOs,” said MNA Nafeesa Shah.
“This compromises their performance as well as their loyalty towards the state and national interest as these civil servants can share key information about the country with donors,” she added. Many civil servants leave their office for years in order to work with such donor agencies. The opposition members said the objections to the bill only sought to benefit certain officials.
However, Aftab Sheikh contended that since there was a clause in the law which binds civil servants to receive permission before joining any such organisation, there is no need for the bar. “Why is this bill only referring to civil servants and not other government departments?” he questioned.
“No one can deny the spirit of the legislation, but it is a key piece of legislation and should be referred to the committee for further discussion,” said MQM MNA Farooq Sattar. “The attention and interest of our civil servants should not be divided during their service.”
Another draft amendment bill, “The Torture, Custodial Death and Custodial Rape (Prevention and Punishment Bill, 2014)” was also referred to the relevant committee for discussion. The bill was moved by PML-N MNA Maiza Hameed and provides for the prevention of all acts of torture, custodial death and custodial rape perpetrated by public servants or any person acting in an official capacity and for the protection of citizens of Pakistan and of all other persons from such acts.
Farmers’ interests
During the session, PML-N members criticised the government for failing to protect the interests of farmers by not purchasing sugarcane and other products by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). MNA Raza Hayat Hiraj said farmers were getting less than half the price of their produce of wheat, sugarcane and rice as compared to the prices they were receiving five years ago.
He added that the relevant authority continuously ignored the issues and ministers were not ready to resolve the issue. “If this attitude towards those contributing 70% to our economy continues, then no farmer will grow these cash crops and the government will be forced to import them,” he said.
PPP lawmaker Yousuf Talpur commented that farmers ‘always suffered badly’ when the PML-N was in government while MNA Tehmina Daultana also criticised the government for ignoring the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile MQM MNA Syed Asif Hasnain accused the PPP government in Sindh of corruption and bad governance. “The provincial government has been receiving a share from the federal government through the NFC and it never spent it on the poor people of interior Sindh,” he said. PPP member Yousuf Talpur and Manawar Talpur rejected these claims.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2014.
The government on Tuesday opposed key legislation pertaining to a bar on civil servants to work in private organisations during their service. The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was tabled in the National Assembly by PPP MNA Dr Nafeesa Shah, but it couldn’t sail through due to opposition from Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Aftab Sheikh and Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid.
The deputy speaker referred the Bill, which has already been cleared by the Senate, to the relevant standing committee for further discussion. Opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah and others criticised the government for creating hurdles in legislation pertaining to the issue.
“I don’t understand why the government damages its own performance by creating hurdles in such a key legislation,” said Shah. “This is why the government was able to only pass five bills during its tenure so far, as compared to the PPP-led government, which passed a record number of 137 legislative bills during its five-year tenure.”
The opposition members said the right to work for private organisations simultaneously has damaged the performance of civil servants as they neglect official duties. “At present there is no bar on civil servants who wish to work in donor agencies and with international NGOs,” said MNA Nafeesa Shah.
“This compromises their performance as well as their loyalty towards the state and national interest as these civil servants can share key information about the country with donors,” she added. Many civil servants leave their office for years in order to work with such donor agencies. The opposition members said the objections to the bill only sought to benefit certain officials.
However, Aftab Sheikh contended that since there was a clause in the law which binds civil servants to receive permission before joining any such organisation, there is no need for the bar. “Why is this bill only referring to civil servants and not other government departments?” he questioned.
“No one can deny the spirit of the legislation, but it is a key piece of legislation and should be referred to the committee for further discussion,” said MQM MNA Farooq Sattar. “The attention and interest of our civil servants should not be divided during their service.”
Another draft amendment bill, “The Torture, Custodial Death and Custodial Rape (Prevention and Punishment Bill, 2014)” was also referred to the relevant committee for discussion. The bill was moved by PML-N MNA Maiza Hameed and provides for the prevention of all acts of torture, custodial death and custodial rape perpetrated by public servants or any person acting in an official capacity and for the protection of citizens of Pakistan and of all other persons from such acts.
Farmers’ interests
During the session, PML-N members criticised the government for failing to protect the interests of farmers by not purchasing sugarcane and other products by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). MNA Raza Hayat Hiraj said farmers were getting less than half the price of their produce of wheat, sugarcane and rice as compared to the prices they were receiving five years ago.
He added that the relevant authority continuously ignored the issues and ministers were not ready to resolve the issue. “If this attitude towards those contributing 70% to our economy continues, then no farmer will grow these cash crops and the government will be forced to import them,” he said.
PPP lawmaker Yousuf Talpur commented that farmers ‘always suffered badly’ when the PML-N was in government while MNA Tehmina Daultana also criticised the government for ignoring the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile MQM MNA Syed Asif Hasnain accused the PPP government in Sindh of corruption and bad governance. “The provincial government has been receiving a share from the federal government through the NFC and it never spent it on the poor people of interior Sindh,” he said. PPP member Yousuf Talpur and Manawar Talpur rejected these claims.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2014.