Punjab Assembly: Govt urged to probe house fire that killed six children

Resolutions seek provision of vaccines for Hepatitis-C and water-borne diseases .

LAHORE:

Punjab Assembly on Tuesday passed with majority a resolution urging the provincial government to hold an inquiry into a recent house fire in Shadbagh where six children died.

The resolution, moved by treasury member Mian Aslam, also asked the government to share the findings of the inquiry with the House.

In his dissenting note, Opposition member Dr Waseem Akhtar expressed reservations over probe by a committee with no representation of the opposition. Law Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman said that this would not be an issue as the House would be informed about the committee’s findings.

Of the 10 more resolutions in the session on Tuesday, eight were passed unanimously, one with majority and discussion on another was delayed till the next session.

The resolutions passed unanimously sought provision of vaccines in public health facilities for prevention of hepatitis-C and water-borne diseases like gastroenteritis; establishment of more offices of the National Database and Regulatory Authority (NADRA) to cater to the rising population of the province; action against those found involved in smuggling of addictive drugs; provision of safe drinking water; implementation of health safety measures at meat shops  across the provinces and disaster-struck status for three tehsils of Mianwali district (Esakhel, Paplaan and Mianwali) where recent rains damaged a large quantity of wheat crop which was ready for harvest.

Opposition member Dr Akhtar’s resolution seeking directives for the government to lower fares for umrah flights run by the Pakistan International Airlines was passed with majority. Treasury member Zaeem Qadri noted that with the fall in petroleum prices the government had already decreased airfare in all categories.



Discussion on Dr Akhtar’s other resolution seeking provision of funds for establishment of libraries at private and public educational institutions across the province was put off for the next session after some members raised concerns over House rules under which such a resolution could be passed.

Staff salaries

Punjab Assembly speaker on Tuesday directed Law Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman to update the House by Friday about implementation of a finance committee’s recommendations regarding salaries of assembly staff.

Earlier, lawmaker Malik Ahmad Khan had raised concern over the lack of implementation of the committee’s recommendations. He claimed that it was illegal to refer the recommendations to the chief minister. “Can the House allow another institution [the chief minister’s office] to encroach upon the speaker’s jurisdiction?” he asked. The law minister dismissed Khan’s concerns and said that the recommendations were referred to the chief minister in accordance with law.

Questions hour

During the question hour, Parliamentary Secretary Haji Muhammad Ilyas Ansari told the House that the government was running 14 orphanages. He said these were located in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Narowal, Gujranwala and Sialkot districts.

Responding to a question about criteria for allocation of funds among these, he said funds were distributed based on performance assessed by departmental committees.

Point of order

The House also discussed recent protest demonstrations staged in front of the assembly premises by the Muttahida Mahaaz Asatza.

Dr Akhtar lamented that the government had resorted to violence instead of negotiating with the protesting teachers. “Some of the protesters are still in police custody,” he said.

He said for several months now people from various social segments had been out in the streets protesting the government for one thing or the other. “From clerks, teachers and farmers to the visually impaired and doctors, everyone is unhappy with the government,” he said. He said doctors had announced another round of protests including boycott work at out patient departments (OPDs) from June 1.

Members from treasury and opposition benches started sloganeering as treasury member Sheikh Ijaz stepped up and started talking in defence of the government. The proceedings resumed after speaker intervened and the law minister took the floor to assure the House that the government would look into the matter of teachers in police custody. He denied that the government was negligent in handling of the protests. He said the protesting teachers belonged to a group that had lost the recent union elections. “The government is holding negotiations with the elected body,” he said.

Other issues discussed at the session were live telecast of House proceedings and a lawmaker’s complaint that traffic police were issuing tickets without any apparent violations.

The speaker told the House that the proposal for live telecast of House proceedings on electronic media was under consideration.

The session will resume on Wednesday at 10am.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2015.