Senate Standing Committee on National Harmony, on Friday, took serious notice of the absence of Chairman Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) from meetings for the last several months.
The senate body, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Mir Muhammad Ali Rind, said that the meeting was rescheduled on request of the chairman but he had still failed to show up at the meeting, while eight members of the committee and the chairman were attending it.
Members also remarked sarcastically that the chairman might be requested, for his convenience, to attend the meeting so that they could get satisfactory answers of their questions regarding the matter of ETPB.
The meeting also directed the vice chairman ETPB, to provide complete details of all institutions running under the board in all provinces and financial details of each unit in the next meeting.
The vice chairman informed the meeting that the total land in possession of the board was 109370 acres in rural areas, while 15849 buildings were owned by the board in urban areas in different parts of the country.
He added that the board had also allotted 74456 acres of land on lease, and rented 24442 sub-units.
Reviewing progress of the Rimsha Masih case, a minor girl accused of blasphemy, the committee condemned the negative propaganda of a few Non-Government Organizations who were portraying a negative image of the country internationally.
They strongly recommended that such matters should be discussed through the Ministry of National Harmony on an official level. The meeting also asked for action to be taken against those who were spreading unauthentic and ambiguous information to the masses and international organizations.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for National Harmony Akram Masih Gill said that the doors of the ministry were open for everyone, especially for minorities, and if anyone had any problems they should come directly to the ministry, where prompt action would be taken against their complaints, after carrying out an inquiry.
