Islamabad, 9th September 2020: National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change hosted an event “Partnership to Preserve” on 9th September, 2020 at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. Honorable Speaker National Assembly Mr. AsadQaiser will be the chief guest of the event. The event will be attended by the Parliamentarians, academia, scholars from more than 20 universities across Pakistan and members of leading civil society organization. The dialogue aims to foster mechanisms for civil society institutions to provide robust, result-focused, credible, and unbiased research which can guide legislative and policy agenda while providing independent insight on areas of improvement to current practices. For the first time in history any committee is building direct linkage with academia and experts. In this regard committee is also launching its website https://climatechangepakistan.com/by the Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly where public can file petition and interact with committee.











Islamabad, 13th August, 2020; 11th meeting of the Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training, National Heritage & Culture was held on 13th August, 2020 at 11:00 a.m in National Curriculum Council, H-9, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Hon. Main Najeeb Ud Din Awaisi, MNA.

2. The Committee discussed the Point of order raised by Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan, MNA against non implementing the Orders of Supreme Court regarding freezing of Private Schools’ fees by Private Schools Association. The Committee expressed its concern over the issue and directed the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) to ensure the implementation of Supreme Courts’ decision within 15 days. The Committee further directed that all Cambridge Schools may be registered with Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and to display/upload list of all unregistered schools on their website for awareness of general public.



3. Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, National Heritage & Culture briefed the Committee on functioning of National Curriculum Council Secretariat and appraised that Single National Curriculum (SNC) one system of Education for all, in terms of Curriculum, medium of instruction and a common platform of assessment so that all children have a fair and equal opportunity to receive high quality education. SNC is a step forward in that direction.



4. He further informed that SNC has been approved with the consent of provinces, Army Public Schools and Pakistan Air Force Schools. The SNC will be enforced in three different Phases. The first phase will be enforced for Classes 1-5 in March 2021. Whereas the second phase for classes 6-8 and third phase for classes 9-12 will be enforced in March 2022 and March 2023, respectively.



5. The Committee unanimously passed “The National College of Arts Institute Bill, 2020” as referred to the Standing Committee.



6. Hon. Members/MNAs namely, Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan, Mr. Sadaqat Ali Khan, Mr. Omer Aslam Khan, Ms. Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, Ms. Andleeb Abbas, Ms. Ghazala Saifi, Ms. Tashfeen Safdar, Ms. Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Ch. Muhamad Hamid Hameed, Ms. Kiran Imran Dar, Dr. Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro and representatives of Ministry and attached department attended the meeting.









Islamabad:11th August, 2020: The Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat unanimously disapproved the decision of the government to windup Abandoned Property Organization (APO) and Aik Hunar Aik Nagar. The Committee was unanimously of the view that instead of winding up, (APO) the properties of the people, who forsake their Pakistani nationality and shifted to Bangladesh, should be distributed to those who opted to be Pakistanis and abandoned their properties in 1971. The committee met with Ms. Kishwer Zehra, MNA in the chair today in the Parliament House. The Committee decided to invite Dr. Ishrat Hussian, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Institutional Reform and Mr. Shafqat Mehmood, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training/Convener Cabinet Committee on Implementation of Reforms in its next meeting to discuss the winding-up.



The Chairperson directed the Special Secretary Cabinet Division to ensure the provision of details of the performance of the Abandoned Properties Organization (APO) especially the detail of sale of the properties, under litigation cases regarding these properties, and the funds utilization in this regard besides properties encroached. The Committee also express its displeasure on the 361-properties non-retrievable in Karachi and asked for a probe into the matter and identify responsible for that encroachment. The Committee unanimously suggested making a Committee to be headed by an Ex-Chief justice to resolve the issues related with abandoned properties. The Members suggested resolving the problems being faced by affectees of 1971 war who left Bangladesh for the love of the country. The Committee also directed Cabinet Division not to proceed with sale of APO properties till final nod by the standing Committee. The committee vowed to protect the rights of citizens of Pakistan through parliamentary oversight.



The Committee while discussing the agenda related to malpractices in the affairs of National Testing Services and other testing services, directed to bring reform in the National Testing Service (NTS) and other testing agencies to ensure transparency and impartiality in the recruitment process. The Committee constituted a Sub-committee headed by Honorable Member Iradat Sharif to discuss the issues of mismanagement in the testing agencies especially NTS .



While discussing the Recovery of Mortgaged-backed Security Bill, 2020, the chair directed to uphold the interests of the lower income class especially in the matter of Mortgage as concerned officers of Naya Pakistan Housing Authority and State bank of Pakistan briefed the Committee in this regard. The Committee, however, allowed the Naya Pakistan Housing authority to withdraw Bill on the pretext of improvement and updation. Meanwhile, the PPRA officers briefed the standing Committee regarding the Public Procurement Regularity (Amendment Bill), 2020. The chair directed PPRA concerned to brief the members in the next meeting in detail about these amendments especially regarding disposal of public assets as it directly attached with the common Public interests. The discussion on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2018 and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was deferred till the next meeting.



The Committee while discussing the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill 2020, moved by Jam Abdul Karim, MNA which sought imposition of Ban on appoint of dual national holders in the services of Pakistan. The Committee members were of the view that dual nationality should not be just for the parliamentarians but for all those who deal in sensitive national matters. The chair directed to seek the opinion of Ministry of Law & Justice in this matter.



The Committee meeting was attended by Minister In-charge Cabinet Ali Muhammad Khan, MNAs Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan, Mr. Tahir Sadiq, Muhammad Aslam Khan, Ms. Uzma Riaz, Rana Iradat Sharif Khan, Ms, Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur , Mr. Syed Mehmood Shah, Mr.Mohsin Darwar and senior officers from Cabinet, Establishment, FIA and other concerned departments.



یکساں نظام تعلیم کے نفاذ سے طبقاتی تقسیم کا خاتمہ ممکن ہے ؛اسد قیصر مردان، 28جولائی 2020:اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی اسد قیصر نے کہا کہ کوئی بھی معاشرہ تعلیم کے بغیر ترقی نہیں کر سکتا اور بحیثیت مسلمان علم کا حصول ہمارے لیے لازم ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ طلباء ہمارے ملک کا روشن مستقبل ہیں موجودہ حکومت ملک میں تعلیم کے فروغ اور یکساں نظام تعلیم کے نفاذ کے لیےترجیحی بنیادوں پر اقدامات اُٹھا رہی ہے ۔انہوں نے کہا کہ یکساں نظام تعلیم کے نفاذ سے طبقاتی تقسیم کا خاتمہ ہو گااور معاشرے کے پسے ہوئے اور پسماندہ طبقات سے تعلق رکھنے والے طلباء کو جدید علوم سے آراستہ کرنے اور ترقی کی مناظر طے کرنے کا موقع ملے گا ۔ان خیالات کا اظہار انہوں نے منگل کے روز سپورٹس بورڈکمپلیکس مردان میں انٹرمیڈیٹ کے ا متحانات میں نمایاں پوزیشن حاصل کرنے والے طلباء و طالبات کے اعزاز میں منعقدہ تقسیم انعامات کی تقریب سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کیا۔ اسپیکر اسد قیصر نے نمایاں پوزیشن حاصل کرنے والے طلباء طالبات کو مبارکباد دیتے ہوئے طلباء کو اپنی تما م توائیاناں حصول علم کے لیے صرف کرنے کی ضرورت پر زور دیا۔ اسپیکر نے کہا کہ کامیابی کا زینہ محنت اور لگن میں پوشیدہ ہے اور محنت سے ہی اعلیٰ مقام حاصل کیا جا سکتا ہے۔ انہوں نے علم کے حصول کی ضرورت پر زور دیتے ہوئے کہا کہ مسلمانوں نے تلوار کی وجہ نہیں بلکہ علم کی بدولت ترقی کی ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ انسان جو سوچ سکتا ہے وہ ممکن ہو سکتا ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ بڑے عہدے اس لیے ملتے ہیں کہ آپ اللہ کی مخلوق کی خدمت کرسکیں کیونکہ خدمت کرنے وا لوں کو صدیوں یاد رکھا جاتا ہے ۔انہوں نے کہا کہ محنت سے آپ بھی ملک کے وزیر اعظم اور ڈاکٹر عبدالقدیر خان جیسے بڑے انسان بن سکتے ہیں۔ اسد قیصر نے کہا کہ آئندہ سال سے یکساں تعلیمی نصاب کا نفاذ ہو جا ئے گا جس کے لیے ملک بھر کے مدارس کا کردار انتہائی اہمیت کا حامل ہو گا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ طلباء خوش فہمی اور غلط فہمی کا شکارنہ ہوں مدارس کو احترام اور قدر کی نگاہ سے دیکھتے ہیں اور مدارس میں بھی متفقہ اصلاحات نافذ کریں گے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ مدارس کو مین سٹریم میں لانے کے لیے تمام اسٹیک ہولڈرز سے مشاورت جاری ہے طلباء کی ترقی اُن کے دین مضمر ہے طلباء اللہ پر ایمان اور اپنی محنت پر یقین رکھیں۔ اسپیکر اسد قیصر کا مزید کہنا تھا کہ پاکستان کو ترقی کرنے سے کوئی نہیں روک سکتااب ملک میں اچھا وقت آنے والا ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہمارے ملک کو اللہ تعالیٰ نے ہر قسم کی نعمت سے نوازا ہے ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہم نے ملکرملک کی ترقی اور خوشحالی کے لیے کام کرنا ہے۔انہوں نے عالمی وباء کورونا وائرس کا ذکر کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ کورونا کی وجہ سے چیلنجز آئے اللہ تعالی کی مدد سے بہت جلد ہم اس پر قابو پانے میں کامیاب ہو جائیں گے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ سمارٹ لاک ڈاؤن پر تنقید کی گئی مگر آج پوری دنیا ہماری سمارٹ لاک ڈاؤں کی پالیسی کو سراہا رہی ہے ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ کورونا وباء کی وجہ سے ہمارے خطے کے پڑوسی ممالک میں زیادہ تباہی ہوئی ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ اللہ کا شکر ہے کل پنجاب میں کورونا سے کوئی موت واقع نہیں ہوئی۔انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ ہمیں احتیاط کا دامن نہیں چھوڑنا اور عید پر شہریوں کو سخت احتیاط کرتے ہوئے محکمہ صحت کی جانب سے جاری کردہ احتیاطی تدابیر پر مکمل طور پرعمل کرنے کی ضرورت ہے۔





Islamabad; July 27, 2020: The Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat in a meeting held today in Parliament House, Islamabad unanimously elected Ms. Kishwer Zehra, MNA as its Chairperson.



Joint Secretary on behalf of Secretary, National Assembly welcomed the members and briefed about the procedure for election of Chairperson. Mr. Mohsin Dawar, MNA/Member proposed the name of Ms. Kishwer Zehra, MNA as Chairperson of the Committee while other members seconded her candidature. Accordingly, Ms. Kishwer Zehra, MNA was unanimously elected as Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.



The Joint Secretary, National Assembly Secretariat, congratulated the newly elected Chairperson on behalf of the Honourable Speaker, Joint Secretary, National Assembly assured her full support from the Secretariat for effective and efficient functioning of the Committee. Chief Whip, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar congratulated the Chairperson and assured his all out support to the Committee.



The Chairperson expressed her gratitude to the members for reposing confidence in her and assured them to run the business of the Committee with consensus. The members while appreciating views of the Honourable Chairperson assured them their fullest support in the process of the legislation. It is pertinent to mention that the Chair was vacant after the former Chairman of the Committee Syed Amin-ul-Haque assumed the portfolio of Federal Minister.



The meeting was attended by Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar, Chief Whip MNAs; Mr. Saleem Rehman, Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan, Mr. Tahir Sadiq, Mr. Muhammad Aslam Khan, Ms. Uzma Riaz, Rana Iradat Sharif Khan, Ms. Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Syed Mehmood Shah, Mr. Mohsin Dawar besides senior officers of the National Assembly Secretariat.



Islamabad, July 23rd 2020; 15th meeting of the Standing Committee on Climate Change was held today under the Chairpersonship of Ms. Munaza Hassan, MNA.

2. The meeting started with the recitation from the Holy Quran, then, the Committee decided to proceed with the agenda. The Committee unanimously confirms the minutes of its previous meeting held on 08th July, 2020.

3. Mr. Amjad Ali Khan, MNA attended the meeting but he requested the Committee that he is engage with some other issues, therefore, his Bill may be deferred. Then, the Committee decided to deferred “The Pakistan Environment Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2019” (Moved by Mr. Amjad Ali Khan, MNA).

4. After thorough introduction of the participants the Committee decided to proceed with the agenda. Ministry of Climate Change and Industries and Production gave detail briefing on electric vehicle. The Ministry told the Committee that Engineering Development Board is jointly working with the Ministry of Industries and Production in this regard. Further, the Ministry told that Dr. Naveed Arshad, Professor of LUMS University is also coordinating us with for making Electric Vehicle. The Committee appreciated the struggles of the all stakeholders working for making the electric vehicles. The Committee showed its concerns of the batteries of electric vehicles after expiry. The Committee also proposed that over all supervision of the Electric Vehicle may be assigned to the Ministry of Climate Change, so that; from beginning it will became environmental friendly under the dynamic supervision of Ministry of Climate Change.

5. The Committee also directed Ministry of Industries and Production to make proper mechanism for check and balance of the old vehicles and two stroke engines. Further, the Committee directed the Ministry of Industries and Production to organize proper emission tests of the old vehicles at the time of their annual token tax. Furthermore, the Committee directed the Ministry of Industries and Production to bound all vehicles manufactures companies to make vehicles as per international standard and all safety measures should be provided in each vehicle complimentary without any additional charges. The Committee unanimously to defer the briefing of the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) till its next meeting.

6. Some Hon. Members asked to Ministry of Climate Change; why; the Ministry did not provided them the detail report of Billions tree planted in KPK so far. The Committee directed the Ministry of Climate Change to provide such detail in its next Committee meeting.

7. The Hon. MNAs/Members/Movers Mr. Khial Zaman, Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, Ms. Andleeb Abbas, Ms. Aliya Hamza Malik, Engr. Sabir Hussain Kaim Khani, Ms. Tahira Aurangzab, Ms. Shaista Pervaiz, Ms. Musarrat Asif Khawaja, Ms. Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Syed Mustafa Mahmud, Mr. Zulfiqar Bachani, Ms. Shahida Rehmani, Minister of State for Climate Change besides the senior officers from the Ministry with their staff were attended the meeting.









Islamabad, July 08th 2020; 14th meeting of the Standing Committee on Climate Change was held today under the Chairpersonship of Ms. Munaza Hassan, MNA.



2. The meeting started with the recitation from the Holy Quran, then the Committee decided to proceed with the agenda. The Committee unanimously confirms the minutes of its previous meeting held on 26th February, 2020.



3. On the request of Hon. Mover the Committee deferred the agenda item No. 03. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources shortly brief about the Euro-II and Euro-V fuel specification. However, the Committee directed that thorough brief may be conducted in next meeting. Hon. Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change briefed the Committee about the Electric Vehicles and he told that one hundred thousand vehicles will be converted on Electric, which will be changed our country’s climate. The Government has been decided to convert two wheelers three wheelers and buses in first phase. Then, in next phase the Government would be though about the conversion of motor vehicles and others.



4. From 1st August, 2020 the diesel available in Pakistan will be converted on Euro-IV. The Committee took serious notice of the Petrol Pump adjoined Motorway and near Motorway interchanges those are supplying below quality fuel which badly affected consumers vehicles, further, they are charging 16% extra from the consumers those are paying their fuel price through credit/debit card. The Committee directed OGRA to inquire such type of complaints and report to the Committee in next meeting. The Committee directed OGRA to ensure that their complaint/help line number must be displayed at every petrol pump in the country for the facilitation of the complainants/consumers.

5. The Hon. MNAs/Members Mr. Khial Zaman, Ms. Andleeb Abbas, Ms. Aliya Hamza Malik, Engr. Sabir Hussain Kaim Khani, Ms. Tahira Aurangzab, Ms. Shaista Pervaiz, Ms. Musarrat Asif Khawaja, Ms. Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Syed Mustafa Mahmud, Mr. Zulfiqar Bachani, Ms. Shahida Rehmani, Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change besides the senior officers from the Ministry with their staff were attended the meeting.





Islamabad, the 8th July, 2020: 40th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs was held today i.e. 8th July, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., in (Committee Room No. 7), Parliament House, Islamabad, under the chairmanship of Mr. Faiz Ullah, MNA.



2. The Committee welcomed Mr. Javed Ghani, the newly appointed Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and recommended that he should continue for smooth and effective functioning of the department. Mr. Hamid Attique, Member-IR (Policy) informed the Committee that “The Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019” (XIII of 2019), laid in the National Assembly on 11-11-2019, was lapsed on 30-5-2020, however, the objectives of the said Ordinance were got approved in “The Finance Bill, 2020”. He further informed that “The Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019”, was also incorporated in “The Finance Bill, 2020”, therefore, the same has been repealed and the FBR has withdrawn the said Bill.



3. Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, Member (Inland Revenue), briefed the Committee about the refunds issued by the FBR in respect of Income Tax, Sales Tax and Customs. The Committee expressed its dissatisfaction on the presentation given by the Member (Inland Revenue) and directed the FBR for comprehensive briefing in the tomorrow meeting.



4. While considering the implementation status on previous recommendations of the Committee regarding purchase of pulses (Dal Channa), the Committee decided that Managing Director, Utility Stores Corporation (USC) should attend the tomorrow meeting personally.



5. President, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. (ZTBL), briefed the Committee about the situational analysis and suggestions for way forward of the Bank. He said that the Finance Division has constituted an Advisory Committee on 15-5-2020 for restructuring of the ZTBL. The Committee expressed its displeasure on the delay for formulation of Board of Directors of the Bank by the Government and directed the Finance Division for apprising the Committee in this respect in the tomorrow meeting. The Committee expressed its concern over less disbursement of agriculture loans to the farmers by the ZTBL as compared to previous years. The Committee Members were of the view that the Government should analyze the current situation before carrying reforms in the Bank.



6. The meeting was attended by MNAs, Makhdoom Syed Sami-ul-Hassan Gillani, Mr. Jamil Ahmed Khan, Mr. Faheem Khan, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Chaudhary Khalid Javed, Mr. Ali Perviz, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Ms. Nafisa Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, MNAs were available on video conference. The meeting was also attended by the senior officers from M/o Finance and Revenue, Law and Justice, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).





Islamabad; 24th June, 2020: Meeting of the Standing Committee on Information & Broadcasting was held in Parliament House, Islamabad this afternoon. Mian Javed Latif, Chairman presided over the meeting.



The Committee expressed grave concern over the passive and irresponsible attitude of the higher management of PTV as they failed to stop the program “Rising Pakistan” telecasted on 5th June, 2020 in which IOJ&K was not shown in the map of Pakistan. The Committee deemed it a criminal negligence and directed that Hon. Federal Minister may hold an impartial investigation and report to the Committee within 07 days of the meeting so that culprits could be penalized accordingly.



The Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting while supporting the view point of the Committee, informed that a high level investigation Committee had already been constituted to probe into the matter and outcome of the inquiry report would be shared with this august Committee.



Earlier, Chairman, PTV informed the Committee that PTV management had immediately terminated two of their responsible employees as a result of departmental inquiry and remedial measures had been adopted to avoid such incidents in future.



The meeting was attended by Mr. Nasir Khan Musazai, MNA, Mr. Aftab Jahangir, MNA, Ms. Naz Baloch, MNA, Ms. Syma Nadeem, MNA, Dr. Nafisa Shah, Ms. Maiza Hameed, MNA and participated through video link by Javeria Zafar Aheer, MNA, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Behan, MNA and Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting.





12th meeting of the Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination was held on 22nd June, 2020 at 11:00 a.m in Committee Room of National Institute of Health (NIH), Chak Shahzad, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Mr. Khalid Hussain Magsi, MNA.



Dr. Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to Prime Minister briefed the Committee about the current situation of the Corona Virus in the country. He briefed that Government had made SOPs to stop the spread of COVID-19 under National Command and Control Center and also ensure the enforcement of those SOPs through local administration. He further said that due to current economic situation it is impossible to implement complete lockdown in the country however, the government focusing on smart lockdown policy; in this regard more then 500 areas were pointed out to implement the smart lockdown where the patients of COVID-19 increases day by day. While briefing about the provision of Health Facilities he said that 1000 ventilators would be reached in the country to facilitate the critical patients of COVID-19 by the end of this month moreover, 5000 health workers have been trained to face the emergency situation regarding the COVID-19.



The members from opposition criticize the policies of the Government as to why the Government was unable to follow the SOPs of World Health Organization (WHO) which caused the spread of COVID-19 in the country. The Committee also protesting against the non-availably of oxygen gas for Parliamentarians affected from COVID-19 in Parliament Lodges.



The following MNAs, Mr. Nasir Khan Musa Zai, Mr. Jai Parkash, Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, Dr. Afzal Khan Dhandla, Dr. Nousheen Hamid, Ms. Fouzia Behram, Dr. Nisar Ahmed Cheema, Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Dr. Samina Matloob, Dr. Darshan, Dr. Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro and Mr. Ramesh Lal attended the meeting.









Islamabad; March 9, 2020: The House Business Advisory Committee of the National Assembly met in Parliament House, today with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the Chair to discuss the business and timetable for the 20th Session of the National Assembly.



The agenda and ways and means to run the proceedings of the current session of the National Assembly were discussed. It was decided that the current Session would continue till 20th March, 2020 and apart from government and private Members business, matters of public importance would be discussed. It was unanimously decided that the House would discuss Agriculture and current grave situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir.



The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, the Ministers, Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Dr. Shireen M. Mazari, Mr. ljaz Ahmad Shah, Minister of State Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan, Chief Whip (PTI) Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, MNAs Mr. Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Mr. Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Mr. Khalid Hussain Magsi, Agha Hassan Baloch, Mr. Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Ch. Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Mr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Mr. Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Ch. Muhammad Hamid Hameed, Syed Naveed Qamar, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Ms. Shaida Akthar Ali and senior officers of the National Assembly Secretariat.





Islamabad the, 05th March, 2020; The meeting of the Standing Committee on Railways held today under the Chairmanship of Mr. Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, MNA, in Committee Room of Ministry of Railways, D block Pak Secretariat, Islamabad to discuss the agenda items issued vide Secretariat Notice of the meeting dated 2nd March , 2020. The Committee approved the minutes of its meeting held on 24th February, 2020 with some corrections. As regard the implementation status of the previous recommendations of the Committee, the members has raised the objection that Ministry of Railways is least bother about the implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee. Particular, the Ministry of Railways used delaying tactics in timely submission of the report of the Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR) regarding the incident of Tezgam Express happened at 6:14 a.m on 31/10/2019, and compensation announced for the deceased/injured passengers by the Ministry of Railway to the Committee. The Chief Executive, Ministry of Railways and other informed the final report of the Tez Gam Express was submitted to the Committee in its meeting held on 24.02.2020 along-with facts and figures, fixation of responsibility and recommendations. He further informed on the question of the members of Committee that some more compensation cheques have been received from Postal Life Insurance and will be delivered today to the respective legal heirs of the deceased passengers. The remaining compensation cheques are still under scrutiny. The Chief Executive of Railways further briefed that Ministry of Railways constituted a Committee comprises of three Assistant General Managers (AGMs) to re-inquire/revisit the inquiry report of Federal Govt. Inspector of Railways (FGIR) on the matter of Tez Gam Express under the direction of Supreme Court of Pakistan and its finding are awaited. Minister for Railways advised the Ministry to provide the copy of report to the Committee. The Committee also heard the legal heirs of some deceased passengers who demanded that Railways should issue the death certificates of those deceased whose dead bodies were not identified even through DNA test, the Committee advised the legal heirs to approach the civil court for issuance of death certificates and Ministry Railways is bound to present the circumstances evidence in the court for issuance of death certificate to 11 unidentified dead bodies for issuance of compensation through Postal Life Insurance. The Committee also emphasized that Federal Govt may consider the request of legal heirs for more compensation and the Summary of Ministry of Railways in the matter be accepted. Further, the Ministry of Railways may also be considered its previous recommendation regarding job in Railways to one legal heirs of all the deceased passengers only. The following MNAs, Mr. Arbab Aamir Ayub, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Mr. Amjad Ali Khan, Mr. Tahir Iqbal, Mr. Aftab Jehangir, Engr. Sabir Hussain Kaim Khani, Ch. Muhammad Hamid Hameed Mr. Ali Pervaiz, Mr. Muhammad Khan Daha, Mr. Nauman Islam Shaikh, Mr. Ramesh La, Muhammad Bashir Khanl and Ms Nusrat Wahid besides the officials of the Ministry attended the meeting.





Islamabad the 26th February, 2020: 9th meeting of the Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs was held in Committee Room No. 7 (4th Floor) Parliament House, Islamabad at 2:30 pm under the Chairmanship of Mir Amer Ali Khan Magsi, MNA. The agenda of the meeting is circulated vide Notice No. F.8 (1)/2019-Com-I Vol-II dated 18th February,2020. 2. The Committee appreciated the efforts of the Armed Forces especially the Air Force in thwarting the unwarranted and uncalled aggression by the Indian Air Force on 27th February, 2019. The Committee felicitated the nation and the forces on this day. The Committee also condemned in the strongest words the killing of Muslims in India in the past couple of days, the Committee also asked the International Community to take notice of these killings. Dua was offered for the Muslims killed in India and the deceased of the 16th February, 2020 incident of lacked gas in Karachi.



3. The Bills “The Port Qasim Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019” and “The Gawadar Port Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019”, were deferred for the next meeting.



4. On the incident of leaked gas on 16th February, 2020 in the vicinity of Karachi Port Trust (KPT), the Minister Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, MNA told the Committee that reports from various sources have been received on the suspicious deaths of ten people in the surrounding areas of KPT, and it indicates that it must have been the cause of a leaked gas happened due to a chemical reaction in an empty tanker. The deaths could not have been attributed to the soya-been shipment. The Members of the Committee wanted to have a judicial inquiry into this matter. The Chairman Standing Committee opined that speculation should not be done and should wait for the final report by the Naval Biological Chemical Department’s report on this matter.



5. The Committee scrutinized the budgetary proposals relating to Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs for the financial year 2020-21 and recommended it to be approved.



6. The meeting was attended by Syed Ali Haider Zaidi Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs and MNAs, Mr. Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, Mr. Faheem Khan, Mr. Saif Ur Rehman, Mr. Abdul Shakoor Shad, Mir Khan Muhmmad Jamali, Mr.Jamil Ahmed Khan, Mr. Lal Chand, Mr. Usama Qadri, Mr. Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Mr. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Ch. Muhammad Shahbaz Babar, Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Mr. Kamal Uddin, Begum Tahira Bukhari, Mr. Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das Mr. Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, Jam Abdul Karim Bijar, Mover Ms. Fauzia Bheram, besides Secretary and other senior officers of the Ministry.















20th,February, 2020: Meeting of the Standing Committee on Industries and Production was held in Toyota Indus Motors ,Karachi, under the chairmanship of Mr. Sajid Hussian Turi, MNA.



The Managing Director Indus Motors Company welcomed the Members and officials from GOP at IMC Head office , Karachi, the Committee paid its visit to different sections of the manufacturing plants of Indus Motors. The Committee witnessed the manufacturing process of vehicles under the supervision of well experienced local and foreign ( Japanese) engineers and workers. The Committee Members have shares their views for the improvements of plant ,which was established in 1989 after visiting the plant, The Managing Director, IMC briefed the Committee about the historical background of the Company .He appraised the Committee about the different specifications of Cars launched by Indus Motors time to time in Pakistan, including some imported vehicles and upcoming versions of new cars . The Managing Director, responded the question raised by the Members regarding quality of products as compared to imported vehicles, the Committee expressed its satisfaction in this regard. However , Members have shown their concerns about the increase of cars price in the country. The MD responded that high mark up rates of Banks loans, over burden of taxation and Automotive Development Policy(ADP) 2016-21 were the major reason of low production in the Automotive sector, which also caused the price fluctuation in the market. Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industries informed that taxtation matters were taken up earlier with Ministry of Finance and Revenue but they didn’t respond properly in last financial year, The Committee decided that an exclusive meeting may be convened with FBR, and Ministry of Finance to resolve the problems of ACD, FED, shortly.



The Committee appreciated the role of Management for providing the good quality/ standards products in Pakistan and launching of new models of cars



The following members attended the meeting:

Mr Nasir khan Musa zai, Mr Muhammad Akram, Sahibzada Sibgatullah, Ms Sajida Begum, Mr Usama qadri, Mr Muhammad Pervaiz malik, Mr. Riaz Ul haq, , Maher Irshad Ahmed khan Besides the senior officials from ministry of industries, PSM , INDUS MOTORS COMPANY.







today under the Chairmanship of Raja KhurramShahzad Nawaz, MNA,in the Committee Room No. 05 (Constitution Room), Parliament House, Islamabad.



2. The meeting commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Additional Secretary Ministry of Interior briefed the Committee about the implementation status of the recommendations of the Standing Committee. The Ministry informed that detailed report on the recommendations of the Committee has been dispatched for information/study of the Honorable A detailed discussion took place on the bill titled “The Bill titled “The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020” and the Committee decided to defer the Bill till its next meeting.



3. Honorable Members/MNAs/MoversMr. Sher Akbar Khan, MeharGhulam Muhammad Lali, Ms. NafeesaInayatullah Khan Khattak, Malik Sohail Khan, Syed Iftikharul Hassan, Mr. Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, Mr. Nadeem Abbas,Syed Agha Rafiullh, Nawab Muhammad YousafTalpur,Mr. Abdul Qadir Pateland the senior officers from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justiceattended the meeting.





Islamabad, the February 15th, 2020: The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Qu Dongyu, called on the members of the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products. Syed Fakhar Imam led the members of the Special Committee formed by the NA Speaker, Asad Qaiser. Qu Dongyu remarked that Pakistan- a country with enormous agricultural potential constrained by significant challenges-was a key priority in FAO’s long international partnerships and called for further deepening the mutual cooperation to tackle food insecurity, malnutrition and rural poverty. It is pertinent to mention that it was the first internati0onal visit of Qu Dongyu after assuming office of the Director General of FAO in June, 2019. The meeting was held on the premises of the National Assembly of Pakistan.



Syed Fakhar Imam, the Convener of the Sub-Committee of the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products presented a holistic picture of Pakistan’s agro-economy and listed key constraints that hindered successful transformation of Pakistan’s agriculture sector. He outlined that Pakistan’s progress in agriculture sector was far below its true potential.



Syed Fakhar Imam stated that growth in the agricultural productivity has lost momentum, leaving Pakistan’s rural population to face continuing high levels of poverty, and food insecurity, as well as limited access to the public services and markets required for a modern economy. He stated that Agriculture sector over the last three decades has been relegated to secondary priorities in the policy making circles and urged the need for special attention to agriculture. Highlighting the rationale for the formation of a Special Committee on Agricultural Products, he added that reversing Pakistan’s agricultural stagnation warranted building political momentum, ownership and close scrutiny of agriculture policies. He underlined the need for strategic investments in agricultural science, technology, research, infrastructure and high value agriculture production.



Chairman Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, Sher Ali Arbab who attended the call on as special invitee outlined that FAO’s technical support to Parliament was indispensable to evidence based policy formulation and oversight. He added that further strengthening strategic partnership with FAO was vital to move Pakistan away from subsistence farming to high yielding modern agriculture. FAO country representative for Pakistan Mina Dawlatchahi called for wider engagement with Pakistan on gender inclusive agricultural development.





Islamabad, 14th February, 2020; 18th meeting of the Standing Committee on Interiorwas held today under the Chairmanship of Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, MNA,in the Committee Room No. 05 (Constitution Room), Parliament House, Islamabad.



2. The meeting commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Additional Secretary Ministry of Interior briefed the Committee about the implementation status of the recommendations of the Standing Committee. The Ministry informed that detailed report on the recommendations of the Committee has been dispatched for information/study of the Honorable A detailed discussion took place on the bill titled “The Bill titled “The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020” and the Committee decided to defer the Bill till its next meeting.



3. Honorable Members/MNAs/MoversMr. Sher Akbar Khan, Mehar Ghulam Muhammad Lali, Ms. Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, Malik Sohail Khan, Syed Iftikharul Hassan, Mr. Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, Mr. Nadeem Abbas,Syed Agha Rafiullh, Nawab Muhammad Yousaf Talpur, Mr. Abdul Qadir Pateland the senior officers from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justice attended the meeting.



Islamabad, 13th February, 2020; 5th meeting of the Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs &Gilgit Baltistanwas held today under the Chairmanship of Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan, MNA. The meeting started with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Chairman welcomed the Committee Members and the participants. After brief introduction of participants the Committee decided to proceed with the agenda.



2. The Secretary, Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and GilgitBaltistan presented overview of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the Financial Year 2020-21 of the Ministry. After detail discussion on PSDP the Committee unanimously recommended the PSDP for the Financial Year 2020-21.



3. Syed Imran Ahmed Shah, MNA presented a resolution on the present situation of Indian Occupied Kashmir in the National Assembly Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and GilgitBaltistan that House noted that the citizens of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) are facing curfew continuously since 192 days and 80 lac Kashmiries are living like prisoners. He also added that escalation in violence and breaches of international human rights on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir; and called the United Nation and International Communities to raise the matter at the United Nations; right of the Kashmiri people to determine their own future in accordance with the provisions of UN Security Council resolutions. Another resolution presented by Mrs. Ghazala Safi, MNA on the violation on Line of Control (LoC) by the Indian Army has been increased and the Committee condemned the atrocity against the innocent people of Kashmir by the Indian Armed Forces and demanded the Security Council to force the Indian Government for appointing United Nations Observer Mission in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) so that they can monitor such kind of human rights violations. The Committee unanimously passed the resolutions.



4. Hon. Members/MNAs Ms. RubinaJamil, Ms. GhazalaSaifi, Syed Imran Ahmed Shah, Mr. WaheedAlam Khan and Secretary Ministry of Kashmir Affairs &GilgitBaltistan, alongwith senior officers from the Ministry attended the meeting with their staff.



Islamabad, the 13th February, 2020: 34th meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs of the National Assembly was held today i.e. 13th February, 2020 in the Constitution Room, Parliament House Islamabad, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Faiz Ullah, MNA.



2. The Committee discussed “The Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020”. The Member Custom briefed the Committee about the salient features of the subject Bill. After clause by clause discussion the Committee unanimously passed the said Bill without any amendment.



3. The Committee discussed “The Eradication of Riba Bill, 2019” (moved by Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, MNA). Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan informed the Committee that SBP was working in this regard and will be able to submit its report by the end of April, 2020. After the consent given by the mover the Committee unanimously decided that subject Bill may be deferred till April, 2020. the Committee also discussed the “The Constitution Amendment Bill, 2020 (moved by Syed Javed Hussain, MNA) regarding to make the amendments for eradication the interest in the Country. He briefed the Committee about the reasons and objectives of the subject Bill. The Committee was of the view that purposed Bill was similar to “eradication of Riba Bill” moved by Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, MNA therefore the Committee decided that this Bill will be further considered by the end of April, 2020, alongwith eradication of Riba Bill.



4. The Committee considered the “The SBP Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2019” however, some Members of the Committee were of the concerns that original Act comparison was missing in the presentation of the SBP, therefore the Committee decided to defer the subject Bill till its next meeting.



5. Member, IR Policy, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) informed the Committee about the implementation status on the recommendations made by the Committee in its meeting held on 4th February, 2020 regarding the issues being faced by the exporters due to delay in refunds. He said that FBR has appointed a Joint Committee of the Representatives from trade organizations and FBR. The Committee had its first meeting on 10.02.2020 and did its initial working pertaining to calculation mechanism adopted in the ST & FE Return, now the said Committee will meet again today and tomorrow for further deliberations in this regard.



6. The Traders from Faisalabad informed the Committee about the hurdles being faced by the traders due to the conditions for obtaining of CNIC copies from buyer. They were of the view that said condition has badly damaged the business in the country. The Committee appreciated the role of FBR and directed the FBR to resolve the said issue with the consultation of the traders. After thread bare discussion the Committee unanimously decided to appoint a Sub-Committee under the Convenership of Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani for making the recommendation to resolve the issues of traders. The Committee also decided to terminate the already constituted Committee on Customs issues.



7. The Committee also discussed the status of Federal Transfers to Provinces during Financial Year 2019-20 from 01.07.2019 to 31.12.2020 under NFC Award. The Additional Secretary M/o Finance briefed the Committee about the disbursement under divisible pool to provinces. The Committee Members have expressed their concerns about the utilization of funds in PSDP. The Finance Secretary, Punjab, Sindh and Special Secretary KPK were present in the meeting however, due to short of time and late receiving of brief from Finance department Sindh, the Committee decided to reconsider the subject agenda in its meeting. The Committee also deferred remaining agenda pertaining to PSDP of Financial Year 2020-21.



8. The meeting was attended by MNAs Makhdoom Syed Sami-ul-Hassan Gillani, Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak, Mr. Jamil Ahmed Khan, Mr. Faheem Khan, Mr. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Mr. Ali Pervaiz, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Ms. Nafisa Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Mr. Aftab Hussain Siddique, Chaudhary Khalid Javed, Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali and Syed Javed Hussain besides the senior officers of Ministry of Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms, Ministry of Law & Justice, FBR and State Bank of Pakistan.



Islamabad, the 6th February, 2020: 32nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs of the National Assembly was held today on 6th February, 2019, at 2:00 p.m., in the Committee Room No. 2, Parliament House, Islamabad, under the chairmanship of Mr. Faiz Ullah, MNA.



2. The Committee decided to defer agenda pertaining to budgetary proposals of the Ministry of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs relating to Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the financial year 2020-21, as required under rule 201(6) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007, due to short of time.



3. The Committee discussed about the new policy regime introduced by Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), regarding stock brokers and broker Houses. The Commissioner, SECP briefed the Committee about the salient features of new policy, wherein he explained the measure taken for the improvement of stock market by the government. He said that new regime will be based on categorization of brokers into three categories: Trading & Clearing (T&C), Trading & Self-Clearing (TSC) and trading Only (TO), T&C &SC categories permitted to retain custody of client assets whereas TO broker to only keep custody of its proprietary book, directors and sponsors and their close relatives, Migration to an effective risk-based compliance culture and said New Regime was also based on the regulatory framework implemented in 2016.



4. The Chairman, Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan informed that proper consultation in that regard has already been made by the SECP with number of stakeholders (Stock Brokers) for last ten months. He also explained the objectives of the new regime i.e. increased in number of brokers, improvement of governance and internal controls, compliance with AML/CFT requirements, ease of doing business and commercial viability of brokers and to enabling the small investors to concentrate on their core competence etc.



5. President, Pakistan Stock Exchange, Broker House Karachi and few other stakeholders expressed their concerns over the design of new regime. They were of the stance that said SRO (New Regime) will affect the small stock exchange brokers and it will further create monopoly of gigantic brokers. Some members of the Committee were of the view that subject regulations will provide protection to investors. After threadbare discussion the Committee recommended that Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan should review its policy with the consultations of stakeholders and will submit its report to the Committee in 15 days.



6. The meeting was attended by MNAs Makhdoom Syed Sami-ul-Hassan Gillani, Syed Naveed Qamar, Mr. Jamil Ahmed Khan, Mr. Faheem Khan, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Mr. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Mr. Ali Pervaiz, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar and Ms. Nafisa Shah, besides the senior officers from Ministry of Finance and SECP.







Islamabad, the February 6, 2020: The National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products signed Memorandum of Understanding with six agricultural Universities of Pakistan in a bid to facilitate sustained collaboration for agricultural transformation. Under a collaborative mechanism and shared commitment, the agriculture universities will provide technical support to Speaker’s led Special Committee on Agricultural Products. The MoU was signed in the presence of the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser. While talking to Vice Chancellors of agricultural universities and heads of agriculture research institutions, the Speaker emphatically stressed the need for policy shift to make agriculture more competitive, profitable, and sustainable. Asad Qasier remarked that agricultural development was indispensable to Pakistan’s enduring quest for sustained and inclusive economic growth. He stated that agriculture universities as repository of agricultural knowledge, research and intellectual capital may play a key role in guiding the National Assembly’s pathways for agricultural development. He further added that for successful transformation of agriculture sector, the National Assembly of Pakistan endeavors to enact evidence and knowledge-based policies and oversight of the executives on implementation of laws, policies and strategic priorities for the agriculture sector. The Special Committee on Agricultural Products seeks to facilitate inclusive consultation, policy dialogue, coherence and coordination at all levels of government to address the constraints that inhibit the national agricultural growth. Under the MoU, the universities will develop customized and demand-based position papers, briefing papers, backgrounds, fact sheets and policy reviews on agricultural issues for the Committee’s deliberations. The universities will facilitate public hearings, policy dialogues and stakeholders’ consultation as per the needs of the Committee. On the sidelines of the MoU signing ceremony, the Sub-Committee of the Special Committee on Agricultural Products also met with Vice Chancellors to discuss the universities’ suggestions for agricultural development. The meeting presided by the Convener Syed Fakhar comprehensively examined the National Action Plan for Anti-Locust operations. The Vice Chancellors stated that rather than firefighting, the research institutions and universities should thoroughly examine the genesis of the locust in a more scientific manner. In this regard, the Committee formed a task-force headed by Chairman PARC comprising representatives of agriculture universities. The Committee urged the universities to examine the issues of agricultural credit, agriculture technology transfer, value addition, horticulture development, regulation of the pesticides, fertilizers and seeds sector, and agriculture research development. The Sub-Committee also sought practical proposals on developing collaborative linkages between research departments, universities, extension departments and farmers. The representatives of Agriculture University, Faisalabad, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef Agriculture University Mutlan, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Lasbela University of Agriculture, and Water Sciences, Lasbela, University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi attended MoU signing ceremony and the meeting of the Sub-Committee. Chairman PARC, Directore General NARC, and officers of the provincial agricultrure research departments and Punjab Agriculture Research Board also attended the event.



Islamabad, 03rd February, 2020; 17th meeting of the Standing Committee on Interior was held today under the Chairmanship of Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, MNA,in the Committee Room No. 05 (Constitution Room), Parliament House, Islamabad. 2. The meeting commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Secretary Ministry of Interior briefed the Committee about the implementation status of the recommendations of the Standing Committee. The issue of granting dual nationality to Pakistanis living in Malaysia was discussed; the Ministry informed that the case has been referred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate negotiation with the Government of Malaysia on the issue for facilitating the Expatriates.The Bill titled “The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2019” was discussed and recommended by the Committee for passage by the National Assembly.



3. The Member P&D Capital Development Authority briefed the Committee about the issue of buildings sealed in Golra/E-11 Isl;amabad. He informed that the Honorable Islamabad High Court in its judgment dated 09-07-2018 declared these constructions illegal. In compliance of the judgment the Federal Government constituted a Commission to review the existing Master Plan of Capital City. The Federal Commission has recommended regularization of existing structures through a study by Independent Consultant. The Federal Cabinet has also approved the recommendation and accordingly draft request for hiring Consultant has been submitted to the Planning Commission. The Committee directed to expedite the process to provide a solution to affectees.



5. The representative of the Federal Employees Cooperative Housing Society (FECHS) briefed the Committee about the joint venture between FECHS and National Assembly Employees Cooperative Housing Society (NAECHS). The Committee was informed that land of the NAECHS has been encroached. The FECHS informed that the society faced issues in demarcation. The Committee directed the Deputy Commissioner to resolve the demarcation issues of the society. The Committee also directed the FECHS to provide plots to the members of NAECHS and submit report to the Committee. The Committee also decided to invite FIA in the next meeting for briefing the Committee on the case referred to it.



6. Honorable Members/MNAs/MoversMr. Sher Akbar Khan, Sardar Talib Hassan Nakai, Ms. Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, Malik Sohail Khan, Mr. Nadeem Abbas,Syed Agha Rafiullh, Mr. Abdul Qadir Pateland the senior officers from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justice,Ministry of Finance, ICT and National Counter Terrorism Authority attended the meeting.





Islamabad; January 30, 2020: The House Business Advisory Committee of the National Assembly met in Parliament House, today with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the Chair to discuss the business and timetable for the 19th Session of the National Assembly.



The agenda and ways and means to run the proceedings of the current session of the National Assembly were discussed. It was decided that the current Session would continue till 17th February, 2020 and apart from government and private Members business, matters of public importance would be discussed. It was unanimously decided that the House would discuss current grave situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir and pass a resolution to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, the Ministers, Mr. ljaz Ahmad Shah, Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Mr. Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan, MNAs; Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dreshak, Mr. Khan Khan Magsi, Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, Mr. Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Malik Aamir Dogar, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Ch. Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Mr. Murtaza Javed Abassi, Mr. Khurrum Dastagir Khan, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, and senior officers of the National Assembly Secretariat.



Islamabad, the 28th January, 2020: The Standing Committee on Power Division in its meeting held today in the Parliament House, Islamabad unanimously elected Chaudhry Salik Hussain, MNA as its Chairman.



2. The Additional Secretary (Committees), National Assembly Secretariat welcomed the members and briefed about the procedure for election of the Chairman. Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, MNA/Member, proposed the name of Chaudhry Salik Hussain, MNA, as Chairman of the Committee while Mr. Lal Chand, and Mr. Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, MNAs/Members seconded his candidature. Accordingly, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, MNA, was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Power Division.



3. The Additional Secretary (Committees), National Assembly Secretariat, congratulated the newly elected Chairman on behalf of the Honorable Speaker, Secretary National Assembly and assured him full support from the Secretariat for effective and efficient functioning of the Committee.



4. The Chairman expressed his gratitude to the members for posing confidence in him and assured them to run the business of the Committee with consensus. The members while appreciating views of the Hon. Chairman and assured him their fullest support in the process of legislation.



5. The meeting was attended by MNAs Mr. Sher Akbar Khan, Mehar Ghulam Muhammad Lali, Malik Muhammad Amir Doger, Mr. Saif Ur Rehman, Mr. Lal Chand, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Engr. Sabir Hussain Kaim Khani, Ms. Saira Bano, Mr. Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Mr. Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Mr. Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, Mahar Irshad Ahmad Khan, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Syed Mehmood Shah besides the senior officers of the National Assembly Secretariat.



Islamabad the, 27th January, 2020: 10th meeting of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology was held on 27th January, 2020 at 2:00 p.m in Committee Room Pakistan Council Science and Technology Ministry of Science and Technology under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sajid Mehdi, MNA. The meeting of the committee commenced with the recitation of holy Quran.



The agenda items regarding pending legislative business referred to the Committee was deferred for tomorrow meeting due to not availability of Mover and representative from ministry of Law and Justice.



Pakistan Council Science and Technology was established as National Science Council in 1961 under the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research and later its charter was revised and renamed as Pakistan Council of Science and Technology (PCST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1984. PCST was designated as Secretariat of National Commission of Science and Technology. PCST being permanent member of CDWP, is playing the leading role in the formation of National Science and Technology policy. It also assisted and advice the Govt. on collection and publication of National S&T indicator and numerical rating of the scientists of the country on the basis of their research.



The major objective and function of PCST, it takes the measures for effective collaboration among academia R&D (Research and Development) organization and industry for development of indigenous products and techno0logies. It promote the quality R&D culture in the country, evaluation of National Research and Development activities including output of individual and institutions for award of financial support thereof. PCST also engaged in promoting the collaboration among national and international organizations for promotion and capacity building in Science and Technology to enter in MOUs, contract etc. Participation in national science and technology planning and development activities and providing advice on selection of projects are also the mandate of PCST.



On the advice of PCST, separate ministry of Science and Technology, Higher education Commission, Pakistan Science Foundation, Science & Technology Cell, Intellectual Property Board, Council for Housing Research and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources were established which may be counted as an historical achievement of PCST.



PCST conducted the studies in the different fields like Information Technology, Energy, Industry, Education, Health & Pharmaceutical, Agriculture Environment, Water, and Electronics. Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Marine Resources, Public health & Sanitation, Automotive sector, Mineral and Robotic, by using the methodology suggested by the expert panels.



PCST has facing the lack of continuity of leadership in the Council and from the last 10 years, it has no regular Chairman. PCST has no infrastructure at provincial level which limits its capacity to perform some of its functions. It has also problems that the human and financial resources do not match with the assigned functions/mandate and expected achievements from this organization. The total technical sanctioned strength of PCST are 21 whereas 05 are filled (in Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100 professionals are engaged in STI policy research) No allocation of funds at all for implementation of the STI Policy. The amount for Research productivity award was 70 million in 2017 but reduced in 2019 as an amount of Rs 2 million. The meeting of National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST), under the chair of Prime Minister, being head, has not convened after December 2001.







Islamabad, January 24th 2020; 09th meeting of the Standing Committee on Water Resources was held today under the Chairmanship of Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur, MNA.



2. The meeting started with the recitation from the Holy Quran. The Committee unanimously confirm the minutes of its previous two meetings held on 6th November, 2019 and 29th November, 2019, respectively. Then, the Committee discussed the recommendations given in its previous meeting including the report of Sub-Committee constituted under the Convenership of Mr. Khalid Hussain Magsi, MNA. The Committee decided that the thorough brief of Sub-Committee report would be discussed in next meeting for making the directions. Thereafter, the Committee proceeded with the agenda and discussed all the agenda items one by one thoroughly excluded “Chirrah Dam”. The issue of “Chirrah Dam” was deferred and the Committee decided to take up this item in its meeting.



3. The Hon. MNAs/Members Ch. Shoukat Ali Bhatti, Mr. Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik, Ch. Javed Iqbal Warraich, Ms. Naureen Farooq Khan, Ms. Nuzhat Pathan, Mr. Khalid Hussain Magsi, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Mr. Riaz-ul-Haq, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mr. Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari, Mr. Munir Khan Orakzai. Besides the senior officers from the Ministry of Water Resources, IRSA, Irrigation, Govt. of Punjab, Govt. of Sindh, Govt. of Baluchistan, Govt. of KPK, PEMRA, and WAPDA with their staff also attended the meeting.



PROVISION OF GAS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY Islamabad the 22nd January, 2020: 8th meeting of the Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs was held in Committee Room of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs New Kohsar Block, Pak Secretariat, Islamabad at 11:30 am under the Chairmanship of Mir Amer Ali Khan Magsi, MNA. The agenda of the meeting is circulated vide Revised Notice No. F.8 (1)/2019-Com-I Vol-II dated 10th January, 2020. The agenda of the meeting is given as under;- 2. “The Port Qasim Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019” and “The Gawadar Port Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019” were deferred by the standing committee for seeking clarification from the Ministry of Law and Justice on the words “Federal Government”.



3. The Minister, Syed Ali Haider Zaidi told the committee that land is given in the limits of Port Qasim for setting up of new LNG terminals for an estimated amount of 10 million US dollars as concession fee and this will also help the companies for the provision of cheaper gas to people. The sea farers are facilitated by stoping the sign in and sign out requirement. The committee appointed Sub-Committee to probe into the issues and wrong doings in Karachi Port Trust. The committee also sought help of the Minister for resolving traffic issues on Kemari Road, Karachi.



4. The meeting was attended by Syed Ali Haider Zaidi Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs and MNAs, Mr. Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, Mr. Faheem Khan, Mr. Saif Ur Rehman, Mr. Abdul Shakoor Shad, Mir Khan Muhmmad Jamali, Mr.Jamil Ahmed Khan, Mr. Lal Chand, Mr. Usama Qadri, Mr. Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Mr. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Ch. Muhammad Shahbaz Babar, Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Mr. Kamal Uddin, Begum Tahira Bukhari, Mr. Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das besides Secretary and other senior officers of the Ministry.





Islamabad the 22nd January, 2020 : 6th Meeting for the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was held today at 2:00 p.m. under the Chairmanship of Mr. Mujahid Ali, MNA in Committee Room No. 7 (4th Floor), Parliament House, Islamabad. The meeting commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Committee confirmed the minutes of its previous meeting which was held on 11th October, 2019. Compliance on the comprehensive report/implementation status of the previous recommendations of the Committee was given verbally by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The Joint Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs informed the Committee that the Administration of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute & Research Center, Lahore has agreed in this respect to convene a meeting therein hence, the Committee decided to hold a meeting and visit there after incoming session.



The Committee after detailed deliberations deferred The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020” (Section 206 & 208) with the recommendation to write a letter to the leaders of all the Political Parliamentary Parties for giving their opinions/suggestions to increase the quota of the women seats. The Committee also recommended to defer two Bills regarding “The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2019” (Section 104) and “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020” (Article 140A) on the requests of the movers of the Bills for its next meeting.



The Chairman, Standing Committee (Mr. Mujahid Ali), Mr. Junaid Akbar, Ms. Rukhsana Naveed, Mst. Shaheen Naz Saifullah, Ms. Zille Huma, Ms, Fouzia Behram, Rana Mubashir Iqbal, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Ms. Shamsun Nisa, Ms. Shagufta Jumani, Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, MNAs/Members of the Standing Committee and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan) and a mover of the Bill, Ms.Noreen Farooq Khan, MNA attended the meeting.







Islamabad, the 22nd January, 2020: 11th meeting of the Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication held today at 11:00 a.m. in Committee Room No.7, Parliament House, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ali Khan Jadoon, MNA.



After having a briefing from Syed Fakhar Imam, MNA/Mover of “The Electronic Transaction (Amendment) Bill, 2019” and M/o Information Technology and Telecommunication, and M/o Law and Justice, the Committee constituted a Sub-Committee under the Convenership of Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, MNA, comprising three Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr. Sher Ali Arbab, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Malani and Ms. Kanwal Shauzab, MNAs.



The Committee expressed its grave concern over the absence of Federal Secretary, M/o Interior in three meetings of the Committee consecutively. The Committee directed the Secretaries Cabinet/Establishment Divisions to take stern action against him and decided to take up the matter with the Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges.



The Secretary, M/o Information Technology and Telecommunication gave detailed briefing on USF ongoing and future projects. He explained that funds have been utilized on all the projects within the country. In this regard, they have designed the programs to cater for the needs of un-served and underserved segment of population across Pakistan. Furthermore, USF is also collecting data from telecom operators regarding their existing coverage in the country and also design projects to upgrade existing infrastructure to provide 3G services. He also informed the Committee that at present, USF is in the process of identification of under-served areas of rural Islamabad after which approval of Federal Government will be sought. Once approved by the Federal Government, funds will be allocated, and projects will be launched for coverage of Mobile Broadband Services to under-served rural areas of Islamabad. As per directions of the Standing Committee, USF shall also utilized exclusively for providing access to telecommunication services to people in the un-served, under-served, rural and remote areas.



The Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) apprised the Committee that complaints regarding online contents would be registered in PTA. Section 37 of Pakistan Electronic Crime Act empowered PTA to just block objectionable contents and Cyber Crime is not our subject, he further added. If any complaint registered, which is other than contents, the PTA will send it to FIA.



Director General, FIA briefed the Committee regarding Cyber Crimes, Security and objectionable material posted in Social Media where they stated that new cyber crime project has been commenced in September, 2018 with 2 years completion time and Rs.1128 million project cost. NOC was also granted for the recruitment of 416 officers on 2 years contract, whereas, this project will fasten the cases process rapidly. Director General, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) briefed the Committee regarding the issues related to Cyber Crimes. He told that NACTA have no power to remove or block any content from any website and could not take action against any unlawful content. NACTA only referred the matter to PTA for further action at their end.



The meeting was attended by MNAs Mr. Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Mr. Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Ms. Kanwal Shauzab, Ms. Nusrat Wahid, Mr. Muhammad Hashim, Ms. Ayesh Rajab Ali, Ms. Romina Khursheed Alam, Ms. Maiza Hameed, Ms. Shamim Ara Panhwar, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Ms. Naz Baloch, Syed Mehmood Shah. The meeting was also attended by Mover of the Bill, Syed Fakhar Imam, MNA and senior officers of M/o IT&T, FIA, NACTA, PTA, and M/o Law & Justice.



Islamabad; January 22, 2020: National Assembly Committee on House and Library has expressed its displeasure on the performance of CDA in Parliament House and Lodges and directed for conducting a comprehensive survey for accessing maintenance and roof water proofing requirements at Parliament House and Lodges. The Committee also directed for ensuring health conducive environment through provision of natural light and fresh air in the Parliament Building. The Committee further directed for sending samples of water from Parliament House, Lodges and Government Hostel for laboratory examination. The committee met under the Chairmanship of Deputy Speaker National assembly Qasim Khan Suri in Parliament House, this morning.



The Members of the Committee pointed out that substantial budgetary allocation is provided to CDA out of which most of the funds are spent on salaries of the CDA employees leaving a meager amount for maintenance work. They pointed out that reportedly a considerable amount was spent on water proofing of roofs of Parliament House and Lodges but the water seepage was observed during the current rains. The Committee also directed for a comprehensive survey of the maintenance requirements at Parliament Lodges and submit its report in next meeting of the Committee. The Committee also asked CDA to take appropriate measures for provision of fresh air and natural light in the Parliament House.



The Committee while discussing health and security arrangements in Parliament Lodges, recommended for grant of special permission to CDA for purchase of Ambulance. The committee was apprised that a dedicated Ambulance could not be provided for the Parliament Lodges Dispensary due to ban imposed by the Cabinet on purchase of vehicles. The Deputy Speaker directed National Assembly Secretariat to convey the recommendation of the Committee to the Cabinet Division for exclusion of purchase of Ambulances from the Ban. The committee was of the view that a large number of Parliamentarians were residing in Lodges and the Ambulance should be present there to coup with any case of emergency. The Committee also directed CDA to provide space for establishment of Utility Store at Parliament Lodges at the earliest. The committee further directed for sending samples of potable water from Parliament House, Lodges and Government Hostel for laboratory examination besides ensuring periodical maintenance of water filtration plants installed therein. The Committee also asked the CDA to make arrangements for installation of Telephone exchange and establishment of dispensary at Government Hostel.



The Committee later discussed the issues related to National Assembly Employees Cooperative Housing Society. The Committee directed administrations of Federal Employees Cooperative Housing Society (FECHS) and National Assembly Employees Cooperative Housing Society (NAECHS) for addressing shortcomings in the documents submitted with the CDA for approval of the layout plan. The Committee expressed its concern on delay of handover of possession of plots to the employees of the National Assembly who have deposited their hard earned savings with the Society since ages. The CDA representative informed that there were shortcomings in the documents provided by the FECHS for approval of layout plan. He informed that CDA would instantly approve the plan on compliance with the requirements.



The meeting was attended by MNAs; Ms. Aliya Kamran, Ms. Munawara Bibi Baloch, Ms. Rubina Irfan, Ms. Musarrat Asif Khawaja, Ms. Romina Khurshid Alam, Ms. Mussarat Rafique Mahesar, Ms. Nasiba Channa, Ms. Shahida Rehmani, Special Invitee, Senior Officer from Finance Division, CDA and National Assembly Secretariat.





Islamabad; 20th January, 2020: Meeting of the Standing Committee on Information & Broadcasting was held in Committee Room No. 7 Parliament House, Islamabad this Afternoon. Mian Javed Latif, Chairman presided over the meeting.



The Committee expressed concern over the dual standard of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as their attitude remain lenient towards influential personalities and they impose severe punishments to others on identical violation of Code of Conduct of PEMRA. The Committee pointed out that it became a routine matter that some of the Anchors of Private Channels humiliate Parliamentarians and other public fame figures on their own will in live talk shows due to improper check & balance of PEMRA. The Committee called Chairman, PEMRA in person to attend the tomorrow meeting to answer the queries of this august Committee. The Committee further directed that Chairman, PEMRA may also provide complete information about imposing & lifting of ban on an TV Anchor against a live talk show in which the Federal Minister for Water Resources participated.



The Committee discussed the issue of construction of road on the land of Radio Pakistan in Ali Pur, Islamabad and directed that Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) may hold a Board meeting to consider the request of more than 20,000 people on humanitarian ground and report to the Committee within 15 days of the meeting.



Earlier, new Secretary, M/o Information & Broadcasting briefly apprised the Committee about the efforts made by them to ensure compliance of the Committee’s recommendations and problems faced by them in this regard.



The meeting was attended by Engr. Usman Khan Tarakai, MNA, Mr. Aftab Jahangir, MNA, Mr. Nasir Khan Musa Zai, MNA, Khawaja Saad Rafique, MNA, Ms. Maiza Hameed, MNA, Syed Amin-ul-Haque, MNA, Ms. Syma Nadeem, MNA, Ms. Naz Baloch, MNA and Officials of M/o Information & Broadcasting & its attached departments.





Islamabad; January 7, 2020: The Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has directed Establishment Division to work out a proposal for establishment of an authority to regulate the Private Testing Agencies. The Committee also directed for finalization of an ongoing enquiry into the paper leakage of tests conducted for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Department. The Committee met under the Chairmanship of Syed Amin-ul-Haque, MNA in Parliament House this afternoon.



The Committee discussed the issue of malpractices and leakages of papers of tests conducted by National Testing Service in 13 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on a question raised by Sahibzada Sibghatullah, MNA and referred by the National Assembly to the Standing Committee for discussion and report. The Committee observed that there was a dire need of establishment of a body to regulate all the Testing Agencies since multiple instances of mismanagement, corrupt practices and non-transparency had been reported. The Committee directed the Rector, COMSATS University and the CEO of NTS to finalize the ongoing inquiry into the whole fiasco within 45 days and submit report to the Committee. Establishment Division was asked to meanwhile bring forth a proposal for establishment of such Regulatory Authority.



The Committee while discussing the progress on infrastructure development projects in Karachi under the execution/management of Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL) directed for early completion of the ongoing projects. The Committee also directed expediting the process of provision of fire tenders and snorkels to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation under PM Package. The Committee was of the view that completion of green line mass transit system would help the people of Karachi to commute between their residences and the workplace beside easing the burden on the road network and helpful in maintaining the ecosystem.



The Committee while discussing two Private Members “Constitution (Amendment) Bills” moved by MNAs; Ms. Aliya Kamran and Mr. Salahuddin Ayubi, directed Establishment Division to take up the convening of meeting of Cabinet Committee on Disposal of Legislative Cases with the Cabinet Division for an early decision on the Bills. The Committee was apprised that the Government Constitutional Amendment Bill and the Private Members Bill have been clubbed together and the discussion and consultation between the Divisions was pending. The Committee while discussing the starred question moved by Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, MNA referred to the Standing Committee regarding non-compliance of CSR responsibilities by Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, directed for provision of details of initiatives taken under CSR for the people of the area. The Committee had a consensus that all the industrial establishments in public sector should fulfill their obligations for the betterment and uplift of area of their location.



The meeting was attended by Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs MNAs; Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan, Ms. Uzma Riaz, Rana Iradat Sharif Khan,Mrs. Seema Mohiuddin Jameeli, Syed Mehmood Shah, Mr. Mohsin Dawar, Movers; Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Ms. Aliya Kamran, Special Secretary, Establishment, Additional Secretaries, Cabinet and Establishment Divisions, Secretary Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Rector COMSATS University and other officers of concerned departments



Islamabad the 2nd January, 2020. A Ninth meeting of the Standing Committee on National Food Security & Research was held on 2nd January, 2020 in Committee Room of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, MNA, for comprehensive briefing by Ministry of National Food Security & Research.



2. The meeting commenced with the recitation from the Holy Quran. The Secretary, M/o National Food Security & Research briefed the Committee that the demand for pulses is increasing day by day with per capita consumption of about 6.0 kg per capita per annum and annual consumption has exceeded 1095 thousand tons. Currently Pakistan is producing only about 501.9 thousand tons of major pulses. Retailer’s price of major pulses in the country is more than double farmer’s market gate cost, which clearly indicates that middle men are fetching more than the producer. The suggested indicative prices per 40 kg of chickpea, lentil, mung bean and mash bean are Rs. 3600, 4800, 4000 and 5800 respectively, which includes investment incentives. The Committee recommended that the PPRA Rule 36 (a) adopted for procurement of pulses may be amended to pave the way for direct procurement of pulses from farmer and also to minimize the role of middlemen.



3. The representatives of the Engineering Development Board (EDB) apprised the Committee that at present three tractor manufacturing companies are operating in the country. The EDB is in process of adoption of WP-29 vehicle regulation which would internationally standardize the Pakistani tractor manufacturing units but at present WP-29 is only for cars. The Committee was informed that the file for adoption of WP-29 is pending with the M/o Foreign Affairs. The Committee recommended that the M/o Foreign Affairs should expedite the process of adoption of WP-29 vehicle regulation. The Committee also constituted a Sub-Committee under the convener-ship of Chaudry Muhammad Ashraf, MNA to examine the Chamber of Agriculture Bill, 2019.



4. The meeting was attended by Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, Mian Muhammad Shafiq Mr. Kamal Uddin, Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Syed Mobeen Ahmed, Chaudry Muhammad Ashraf, Choudhary Faqir Ahmed, Syed Javed Ali Shah Jillani MNA’s, beside senior officers from the Ministry of National Food Security & Research, Chairman, PARC, M.D. Utility Stores, M.D PASSCO and representatives of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association also attended the meeting.



Islamabad the, 2nd January, 2020 :9th meeting of the Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination was held on 2nd January, 2019 at 1:00 p.m in Committee Room of National Institute of Health (NIH). Chak Shahzad, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Mr. Khalid Hussain Magsi, MNA.



The Committee was briefed on the latest progress achieved to control the HIV/Aids. It was informed that screening test has been conducted in the different areas of the Country moreover, the training programs has also arranged under the Global Funds Programs to control the HIV/ Aids. The Committee expressed its concern over the lack of coordination amongst the provinces regarding the survey conducted to overcome the HIV/Aids. The Committee was of the view that most of the surveys are just paper work and ground realities were quite different. The Committee directed to invite all Provincial DGs Health and Program Manager in the next meeting to brief the Committee about the factual position of HIV/Aids and efforts being made by them to control it. The Committee further directed that seminar should be conducted on District level to bring awareness in the general public to overcome this disease.



The Committee deferred “The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill 2019”, “The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health (Amendment) Bill, 2019” and “The Islamabad Transfusion of Safe Blood (Amendment) Bill, 2019 due to the absences of its Movers.



The following MNAs, Mr. Haider Ali Khan, Mr. Nasir Khan Musa Zai, Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, Dr. Nousheen Hamid, Professor Shahnaz Naseer Baloch,, Dr. Nisar Ahmed Cheema, Dr. Samina Matloob, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Dr. Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, Mr. Ramesh Lal and Ms. Shams-un-Nisa attended the meeting.



Islamabad, the 2nd January, 2020: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works recommends to pass “The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2019” in its meeting held today under the Chairmanship of Engr. Muhammad Najeeb Haroon, MNA.



During the meeting, the Committee was informed that the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) is mandated to arrange affordable residential accommodation to the employees of the Federal Government and other specified groups on the basis of no profit no loss. Its jurisdiction extends to whole of Pakistan. The Foundation is not a regulatory body and it has to go through lengthy process of seeking permissions and NOCs from different authorities for launching its projects. The maintenance of existing schemes is not possible until the Foundation is given the status of an Authority.The Ministry also requested the Committee to pass the said Bill. The Committee therefore recommended that the National Assembly may pass “The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2019”.



Regarding “The Recovery of Mortgage-backed Security Bill, 2019”, the Committee was informed by the Ministry that since “The Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority” was running its business under the direct command of the Honourable Prime Minister, thus, the said Bill should be considered by the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat. The Committee decided to refer the said Bill to the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat for its consideration and report to the National Assembly.



Regarding the release of funds to the province of Sindh by the Government under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Program, the D.G (Pak-PWD) informed that the Steering Committee, headed by Mr. Pervaiz Khattak, Hon. Minister for Defence, approved release of Rs.34 billion in respect of 488 proposed development schemes of the Hon. MNAs under the said SDGs Program. The Committee directed the department to ensure execution of development schemes of all the Hon. MNAs belonging to the province of Sindh irrespective of their party affiliation.



Regarding the review of amendment in rule 15(2)(b) of the Accommodation Allocation Rule, 2002, concerning exclusion of the married son of a Government Servant, the Committee was informed by the Ministry that the case in question has been referred to Law and Justice Division for vetting.



Besides the Hon. Minister for Housing & Works, the meetingwas attended by Mr. Anwar Taj, Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar, Ms. Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak,Mr. Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Syed IftikharUl Hassan,and Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNA/Members. The senior officers of Ministry of Housing and Works, Federal Government Employees Housing Authority,Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation, Pak-PWD, Estate Office,Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Law & Justice were also present in the meeting.





Islamabad, the 30th December, 2019: 11th meeting of the Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges of the National Assembly was held today i.e 30th December, 2019, at 11:30 a.m., in the Constitution Room (Old Committee Room No.5), Parliament House, Islamabad, under the chairmanship of Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, MNA.



2. The Committee deferred the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Muhammad Aslam Khan, MNA regarding raid carried out against his offices without prior information and seized his files/record about a false report on the absence of the mover. It was unanimously decided by the Committee that subject matter would be disposed of in case of further absence of the mover in next meeting of the Committee.



3. The Committee deferred the Question of Privileges raised by Mr. Atta Ullah, MNA regarding not responding to his telephone calls by Managing Director, Water Board, Karachi and not responding to his telephone calls by Mr. Humayun Sagheer, Regional Head K-Electric, on the request of the mover due to his illness.



4. The Committee discussed the question of privileges raised by Mr. Abdul Majeed Niazi, MNA against Mr. Liaqat Ali Tarar, DSP tehsil Karror Lal Eason, District Layyah. The District Police Officer (DPO) briefed the Committee about the further outcome of the said issue. However, the Committee deferred the matter due to the absence of the mover.



5. The Committee deferred the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Ahmed Hussain Deharr, MNA regarding not attending the telephone calls and misuse of authority by Mr. Iftikhar Ali Sahu, Commissioner Multan, on the absence of the mover.



6. The Committee discussed the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, MNA regarding incorrect reply provided by the SNGPL/Ministry of Petroleum on the floor of the National Assembly. The Committee directed the Managing Director, SNGPL to coordinate with the Honorable Member for addressing the problems being faced by the Member in his constituency due to non-supply of Gas Schemes etc. The Committee also recommended that Managing Director, SNGPL will submit its report to the Committee within 15 days.



7. The Committee once again directed the Deputy Director, Parliament Lodges to resolve the issues being faced by the Parliamentarians in the Parliament House, due to poor maintenance work made by the CDA.



8. The Committee discussed the Questions on Privilege raised by Dr. Haider Ali, MNA regarding alleged reimbursement of huge money by the Honorable Member on account of his treatment as published in the daily news dated 23.08.2019. The Committee directed the Secretary, Information to probe into the matter and redress the grievances of the Honorable Members with his consultation and compliance report on the issue may be submitted before the Committee within 15 days.



9. The Committee discussed the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan. MNA regarding baseless allegations made by Sardar Ghulam Mustafa, DSP, Thana Khanna, Islamabad in an open conference (Khuli Kachehri) at Moza Sohan on 6th December, 2019 against the elected representative of Islamabad. The Committee expressed its displeasure on the absence of Secretary, M/o Interior, Chief Commissioner and IGP Islamabad. The Committee unanimously decided to defer the agenda till its next meeting and directed the representatives of Interior, ICT and Islamabad Police to request their Senior Officers for attending the next meeting of the Committee in that regard.



10. The Committee discussed the issues regarding release of funds by the M/o Finance for hiring/training of Human Resource and other facilities to Motorway/NHA. The Joint Secretary M/o Finance informed that M/o Finance was already on board with Motorway Police and M/o Communication in that regard. However, the Committee directed to M/o Finance, M/o Communication and Additional IG Motorway to arrange a special meeting for considering the issues of Motorway Police regarding release of logistic and operational funds on priority basis. The Committee also recommended that M/o Finance will submit its report to the Committee within 15 days.



11. The Committee discussed the amendments proposed by Ms. Shazia Marri, MNA, in Rules 200(1), 206, 208(1), 210, 212, 244(A)(2), 244(B) and 244(C)(2) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. After detailed discussion, the Committee unanimously decided that subject matter may be circulated to the leaders of the Parliamentary parties for their views/stance in that regard or the Parliamentary leaders may be invited in the meeting of the said Committee for obtaining of their comments.



12. The meeting was attended by Mr. Nawab Sher, Mr. Khuram Shahzad, Mian Muhammad Shafiq, Mr. Muhammad Amjad Farooq Khan Khosa, Mr. Muhammad Sajjad, Mr. Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha, Mr. Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhary, Syed Imran Ahad Shah, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Ms. Shagufta Jumani, Mr. Ali Wazir, Minister for State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ms. Shazia Marri MNA/Mover, Muhammad Afzal Khokhar MNA/Mover, Dr. Haider Ali MNA/Mover, Mr. Ali Nawaz Awan MNA/Mover, besides the senior officers from Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, Ministry of Communication, M/o Health, M/o Interior, IGP, Islamabad, IGP, Baluchistan, Additional IGP, Sindh and Senior Officers from Power Division.



Islamabad the 26th December, 2019: 6th meeting of the Standing Committee on Energy was held in Constitution Room (Old Committee Room No.5), Parliament House, at 10:30 am under the Chairmanship of Dr. Imran Khattak, MNA. The agenda of the meeting is circulated vide Notice No. F.3 (1)/2019-Com-I Vol-II dated 18th December, 2019.



2. The Chairman and Members of the Standing Committee on Energy expressed annoyance on the continuous load shedding of Gas in different parts of the country. The Ministry said that due to the current cold spell, the consumption of the Gas has been increased and the companies have to adjust the Gas supply to the domestic consumers as well as to the Power sector, in spite of the fact that 11.6% of more Gas has been injected in the system. The Committee directed the Secretary and concerned officials to address the concerns of the people on priority. The Committee asked the Secretary to address the concerns of Elected Representatives regarding their development schemes. The Committee directed the Ministry to complete the process of shifting the Head Office of SNGPL to Islamabad without any further delay.



3. The Committee was angered on the absence of Secretary Power Division and officers without any justification or reason. The Committee took exception of it and referred the matter to the Honourable Speaker as it tantamounts to the breach of privilege of the Standing Committee as well as the Parliament.



4. MNA’s Mr. Junaid Akber, Malik Anwar Taj, Mr. Noor Alam Khan, Mr. Shahid Ahmed, Sardar Talib Hassan Nakai, Mr. Khurram Dastagir Khan, Ch. Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Shazia Marri, Mr. Zahid Akram Durrani & Mover of the Bills Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNA & Syed Fakhar Imam, MNA and Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Division along with senior officers of the relevant departments attended the meeting.





Islamabad; December 24th, 2019: The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) met today at 10:30 AM in Committee Room No. 7, Parliament House, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sajid Khan, MNA. 2. The Committee discussed the issue of doubling of seats in Medical/Dental colleges across the country as announced/ approved by the Cabinet in its meeting held on 2nd March, 2017, in detail. In this regard, the Secretary Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), Islamabad informed the Committee while briefing that the notification of 136 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has already been issued and the increase of seats in other provinces is still awaited as the admitting universities is not yet submitted their inspection forms to the PMC. He further said that he is personally in touch with the VC’s of admitting universities in the provinces and hopefully the inspection forms will be received to the Pakistan Medical Commission by today in office hours. Whereupon the Committee directed to the Secretary PMC to issue the notification regarding doubling of seats in the other provinces within two or three days in order to save the future of FATA students and they may get admission in the Medical Colleges from the current session. 3. The Chief Engineer, Construction & Works Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gave presentation on the development schemes in merged areas (Erstwhile FATA). The members of the Committee shown their reservations on the development schemes in merged areas and observed that the development schemes selection/distribution district wise is not done on merit and not consulted the public representatives on these development schemes. The Committee recommended to the Chief Engineer, Construction & Works Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to arrange meeting in the Planning and Development Department for the Committee Members with the Secretary C&W to discuss the development schemes in the merged districts under the Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP). 4. The Committee was briefed by the representative from TESCO department on the development schemes in merged areas in detail. After detailed briefing, the Committee recommended that the load shedding hours may be reduced and make better arrangements for uninterrupted supply of electricity in the merged areas. The Committee further recommended that the construction work on the proposed/approved Feeders in tribal districts may be expedited in order to complete the said Feeders within the stipulated time. The Committee further recommended that per unit rates of electricity may be subsidized in merged areas (Erstwhile FATA) for domestic and commercial users. 5. The meeting was attended by MNAs: Mr. Saleh Muhammad, Mr. Shahid Ahmad, Mr. Gul Dad Khan, Mr. Gul Zafar Khan, Mr. Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Ms. Aliya Hamza Malik, Nawabzada Shah Zain Bughti, Mr. Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, Chaudry Muhammad Ashraf, Mr. Sajid Hussain Turi, Mr. Muhammad Jamal Ud Din and Mr. Ali Wazir and Officers/Officials of the Ministry and its attached Departments.



Islamabad, 24th December, 2019: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication showed its displeasure on the absence of Secretary, Ministry of Interior in its meeting held today, at 11:00 a.m., in the Conference Room of National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) Headquarters, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ali Khan Jadoon, MNA.



2. The Director General, National Information Technology Board (NITB) while briefing informed the Committee that E-Office is implemented in 31 Ministries including 48 Departments out of 42 Ministries/Divisions and the implementation of the said application is pending in remaining 11 Ministries due to non-availability of required infrastructure. The procurement of required infrastructure is in process and will be completed in next financial year subject to the release of funds by Finance Division.



3. While briefing on senior management positions vacant in the Ministry and its attached Departments, the Additional Secretary, M/o IT & Telecom informed that the said posts will be filled by the Ministry within two and a half months.



4. To develop the Digital App for accessing the data regarding the meetings of the Standing Committee on IT & Telecom, the Additional Secretary requested the Committee to nominate a focal person for requirements of the said App so that NITB Team can analyze and initiate development process. The Committee nominated Ms. Kanwal Shauzab and Ms. Romina Khursheed Alam, MNAs as focal persons for the said purpose.



5. The Director (Cyber Crime Wing), Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) apprised the Committee that investigation of transactional electronic cybercrime requires the records from International organization such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Microsoft, WhatsApp etc. He added that the servers of all companies are outside Pakistan and lack of provision of records from these companies has often leads to dead end our investigation. The most resilient way of obtaining fruitful results of Cybercrime Investigation is by signing the Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty (MLAT) to get provision of digital record from outside Pakistan, he further added.



6. The Director, FIA also informed the Committee that FIA shall be the designated agency for extending or requesting international cooperation under the Pakistan Electronic Crime Act, 2016 and may fully utilize (Interpol) for extending seeking intelligence cooperation in Cybercrime related cases. The Cybercrime Wing may seek or extend cooperation to any foreign government, International organization or agency through M/o Interior for investigation of an offence under the said Act.



7. The CEO Universal Service Fund (USF) informed the Committee that at present, USF is in the process of identification of under-served areas of rural Islamabad after which approval of Federal Government will be sought. Once approved by the Federal Government, funds will be allocated, and projects will be launched for coverage of Mobile Broadband Services to under-served rural areas of Islamabad. USF shall utilized exclusively for providing access to telecommunication services to people in the un-served, under-served, rural and remote areas. As per the directions of the Standing Committee, the USF Teams performed drive tests of Pind Bigwal, Pehont and Kijnah on 16th December, 2019 where coverage of all four Cellular Operators i.e. Telenor, CMPak, PTML (Ufone) and PMCL (Jazz) was assessed.



8. The meeting was attended by MNAs Mr. Sahibzada Sibgatullah, Ms. Kanwal shauzab, Ms. Nusrat Waheed, Ms. Romina Khursheed Alam, Mr. Ali Gohar Khan, Ms. Ayesha Rajab Ali, Ms. Maiza Hameed, Ms. Shamim Ara Panhwar, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Malani and Syed Mehmood Shah The meeting was also attended by the senior officers of the Ministry of IT & Telecom, NTC, NITB and FIA.





9th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology was held on 24th December, 2019 at 11:00 a.m in Committee Room of PCSIR Ministry of Science and Technology, Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sajid Mehdi, MNA. The meeting of the committee commenced with the recitation of holy Quran.



Director, Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Centre (PASTI