It’s time to rejoice for 14,000 teachers

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Amid harsh criticism of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for erroneous registration of voters, the provincial legislature on Monday passed the bill to regularise the services of around 14,000 government teachers appointed on contractual basis over two years ago. The Sindh Assembly passed into laws three bills, respectively, to regularise some 14,000 teachers appointed on contractual basis in 2008 and 2009; to establish the Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences in Sehwan; and set up an ombudsman office for the province. A previous bill on the establishment of the provincial ombudsman’s office was withdrawn from the House. Another bill on setting up the Habib University in Karachi was introduced but its consideration was deferred until Thursday.
The NADRA came under heavy censure in the Sindh Assembly as the lawmakers complained that many voters, including some elected representatives, were wrongfully registered in far-flung constituencies outside the province or not registered at all.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s Anwar Khan Mahar surprised the House by saying that he was not even registered by the NADRA as a voter; while demanding corrections, Ghulam Qadir Chandio said all members of a large family from his constituency were registered in Balochistan province.
Dr Ahmed Ali Shah criticised the authority on its failure to display voter lists on the specified places for verification within the stipulated time. “Our existence is based on voter lists and the PPP has suffered from it in the past,” he warned.
“With the March 31 deadline approaching, the masses are yet to get verified for the NADRA’s voters’ lists and their electoral areas therein,” Shah said
Sharing the lawmakers’ concerns, Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro declared that the Assembly Secretariat would write to the NADRA authorities and the provincial law ministry would take up the issue with the authority. “You all have complaints, but NADRA has to make it foolproof to ensure transparency in the elections,” the speaker remarked.
Urging the elected representatives and the masses to fulfil their moral obligation of verification of voters’ lists, Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro said NADRA officials would be summoned in the Assembly’s Committee Room to brief the lawmakers concerned.
Dr Sikandar Mandhro, who replaced Khuhro in the chair, said the lists should be displayed at primary schools and that a further one-month extension warranted given the shortage of time.
The House then saw Sindh Rehabilitation Minister Muzaffar Ali Shujra blasting the Karachi Electricity Supply Company as a “white elephant” for removing pole-mounted transformers in areas of Ibrahim Hyderi, Quaidabad, etc, where he said the consumers had paid 60 percent of their outstanding electricity bills. “The KESC should also repay Rs 87 billion it owes to the government on account of oil and gas,” he demanded.
A noisy pandemonium followed in the assembly when Marvi Rashdi said the Baloch people should refer to the March 3 incident where on-duty police personnel were roughed up by the sons of Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. “The rights of Balochs are not linked with the misconduct of someone’s sons,” a full-throated condemnation came from Information Minister Shazia Marri. “I condemn this wrong statement.”
Putting Rashdi on the defensive, Marri said it was such “behaviour” for which the Baloch people have been suffering. Mandhro looked helpless when at least half a dozen lawmakers, including Nusrat Seher Abbasi, Rashdi, Agha Taimur Talpur, Rafique Engineer and Akhtar Jadoon, stood up, each wanting to be given the floor.
Sindh Transport Minister Akhtar Jadoon left many scratching their heads by his, perhaps, maiden outburst in the House against the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board managing director for not supplying drinking water in his constituency – Kemari.
“The people of Kemari are being tormented without water and if this is not heeded, they would block the Karachi Port Trust,” Jadoon shouted at the top of his voice. This also brought the MQM lawmakers to their feet but the chair did not allow them the floor. Backed by Rafique Engineer, the law minister got Rashdi’s words expunged clarifying that the House had great regard for Baloch and that no wrong message should go to them from Sindh.
There was a brief debate between the law minister and the PML-F lawmaker when the former protested the presence of “a bureaucrat” in the House against whom her privilege motion was pending in the standing committee. “Try not to seek cheap publicity,” a visibly enraged Soomro asked Rashdi, whose statement went almost unheard amid the argument involving even the Speaker.
The PML-F legislator finally staged a walkout from the House.
Sensing disorder in the House, Khuhro returned to the chair, as Agha Taimur Talpur requested him that his long pending privilege motion be also referred to a special committee. Khuhro asked the law minister to move a motion if the special committee members on privilege fail to elect their chairman during the March 10 meeting.
Tauqueer Fatima Bhutto put the ball in the Sindh Law Department’s court when PML-F’s Nusrat Saher Abbasi drew the House’s attention towards folk singer Mumtaz Kunwal – a recent victim of violence from Khairpur. “The bill (on violence against women) is pending with the law department,” said Fatima, the provincial women development minister.
Earlier, Ayaz Soomro issued a statement under Rule 215, condemning the non-parliamentary language in the print media used by “an MPA” affiliated with the past dictatorial regime against the Sindh chief minister, amid shouts of “shame shame” from the House.
He recalled various incidents of “political victimisation” of his party colleagues at the hands of the previous government. During the Question Hour, Sindh Fisheries Minister Zahid Bhurgari responded to the starred and supplementary questions from the members.
The session was put off till Tuesday 10:00 am.

No more leaves for Arbab Ghulam Rahim?

KARACHI: In a rare move, the Sindh Assembly declined to grant any further leaves to former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, the self-exiled leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (Likeminded Group), who, according to a provincial minister, may easily be disqualified for his four-year-long absence from the House “on technical grounds”.
Sans the Likeminded lawmakers, the majority of lawmakers in the PPP-dominated provincial legislature shouted “no” when Speaker Nisar Khuhro put to vote two applications submitted by Rahim’s party fellow Abdul Razzak Rahimoo to seek further leave for his leader. According to the applications, Rahim was abroad where he was feeling unwell and advised by the doctors not to travel by air. “Hence, he is unable to attend the current session with effect from February 29,” the speaker read out the telephonic message. Rahimoo and Nuzhat Pathan of the Likeminded group protested when Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro questioned the nature of the illness the former chief minister was suffering from. “Put it [application] to vote instead of discussing it. This is not appropriate,” said Rahimoo. Previously, the House had been granting the Likeminded leader leaves without any ifs and buts, however political analysts now smell some politicking on the part of PPP-led coalition government in the post-Senate elections scenario.
Rahim is believed to be bracing for a political backlash from the now all-powerful PPP, which enjoys 41 members in the Upper House. Some quarters cite security reasons for Rahim’s self-exile, which carries enough weight if analysed in the backdrop of April 7, 2008 incident when a PPP activist hit the former PML-Q leader with a shoe. “He [Rahim] quotes reasons related to health when he talks to us, but cites security reasons when he talks to you [media]… by doing so he is contradicting himself,” a PPP lawmaker had told Pakistan Today on the day of Senate elections. As for the assembly rules, Sub-section (1) of Rule 56 of the Rules of Procedure says: “If a member remains absent, without leave of the assembly, for 40 consecutive days of its sitting, the speaker shall bring the fact to the notice of the assembly and thereupon any member may move that the seat of the member who has been so absent, be declared vacant”.
“Technically he can be easily disqualified,” commented a Sindh cabinet member. Asked what the PPP was up to, the minister only said: “Let’s see.” ISMAIL DILAWAR