Sindh Assembly passed on Monday three bills including Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 while two new bills were introduced.
The House met one hour and 15 minutes late after its scheduled time of 10:00am. In the beginning, there was incomplete quorum, but nobody pointed it out and the speaker also ignored it.
The bills which were passed included Bill No 21/ 2014 The Sindh Arms (Amendment) Bill 2014, Bill No 33/ 2014 The Sindh Condominium Bill, 2014, and Bill No 37/ 2014 The Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014. All three bills were tabled by Sindh Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro. The last bill was tabled through supplementary agenda as it was not included in the order of the business.
Two other bills, Bill No 34/2014 The Postgraduate College of Medical Sciences Sindh Bill, 2014, and Bill No 36/ 2014 The Sindh School Education Standards and Curriculum Bill, 2014 were introduced, while Bill No 30/ 2014 The Sindh Medical and Dental Council Bill, 2014 was sent to the standing committee for health to report on it within 15 days. However, Bill No 26/2104 The Dow University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was withdrawn on the request of the mover Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro.
PPPP MPA Nadir Magsi raised the issue of threats to employees of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) on the basis of linguistic background.
MQM MPA Heer Soho asked a short notice question about shifting the proposed campuses of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro and Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro from Thatta to Khairpur. She said the land for the proposed campus of LUMHS was arranged near Gaujjo and a signboard of the university was also erected there, but now these campuses were being shifting to Khairpur, the home district of Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah. She said that the students of Thatta should not be deprived from the campus of LUMHS.
However, Minister for Education and Literacy Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said these campuses were not being shifted to Khairpur as a campus of Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering and Technology (QUET) had already been working in Khairpur. When the mover Heer Soho stressed that the minister should categorically give statement that the proposed campus of LUMHS was not being shifted from Thatta to Khairpur, the minister ducked the pointed question, saying such decisions were made by the syndicates and senates of the university and that the Sindh governor was the chancellor of all government-run universities of Sindh province and no such decisions could be made without his approval. However, he said for the government both Thatta and Khairpur districts were equally precious.
The chair adjourned the house till Tuesday.
