National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq warned bureaucrats, particularly federal secretaries, of suspension from service if they provide “inadequate and incomplete” answers to the Parliament during question hour.
The speaker issued the ruling when the Ministry of Industries and Production did not provide “a complete answer” in the form of a written reply to a question asked by lawmakers. The speaker summoned the concerned secretary urgently to his chambers for an explanation.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and other opposition parties staged a walk out from the NA session over the “improper answer” given by Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali in relation to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).
PPP MNA Nafeesa Shah and Abid Sher Ali also had a heated exchanged over the matter. Abid Sher Ali informed the House that in the last two years, electricity worth Rs 30.2 billion had been stolen from the system. He said that 40,000 FIRs against crimes of this nature had been registered and Rs 7.36 billion had been recovered from defaulters and thieves.