The members of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice belonging to Sindh and Balochistan expressed their concern that if the small provinces were not given representation in functional members of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the population census would become controversial.
The meeting of the committee was held with the Javed Abbasi in the chair in the parliament house. In the meeting, the bill regarding giving autonomy to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics was reviewed. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s Senator Saeed Ghani in the meeting demanded that if all the provinces of the country were not given equal representation in PBS, the population census would become controversial and its results will not be recognised.
He added that to avoid this situation, every province should be granted representation in the functional members of the bureau.
Balochistan Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldeni also endorsed his stance and said that every province would raise an objection on population census. If provinces were not granted representation then the population census would become controversial, he added.
The committee decided to further consider in this regard in the next meeting. The committee also decided to consider the matters relating to granting representation to women in the judiciary, allocation of quota and to grant a representation in provincial bar councils by the federal government to discuss in the next meeting.
Law and justice secretary opposed the allocation of quota for women in judiciary on the slots of judges and said that judges must be appointed on merit.
In the meeting, the amendment bill about the implementation of building code was also reviewed. The committee directed the ministry of science and technology to complete the draft of the bill within the period of three weeks, and after seeking approval from the ministry of law and justice, it would be dispatched to federal cabinet for a final approval.
