A joint sitting of Parliament on Tuesday passed three bills which were referred to it after the passage of motions from either House.
Senator Nuzhat Sadiq moved the Dyslexia Special Measures Bill, 2022 which was passed by the House. The bill aimed to provide special measures for the education of children suffering from dyslexia or associated disorders. Another bill – the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2022 – introduced by Senator Saleem Mandviwala was also passed. It suggested to increase the tenure of officer bearers of all trade organizations from one year which would improve policy continuity within trade organizations and allow office bearers sufficient time to initiate and complete projects for the welfare of the trade in Pakistan.
MNA Zahra Wadood Fatemi moved the Islamabad Capital Territory Domestic Workers Bill, 2022 and the joint sitting approved it. The bill aimed to provide for regulation of employment of domestic workers in Islamabad Capital Territory and protect their rights. It also suggests to regulate their terms of employment, improve working conditions of service and ensure social protection as well as welfare to them. A bill – the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2022 – was deferred on the request of Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar.
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday asked the citizens across the country to generously donate blankets and quilts for the flood-hit people to save them from cold as the winter season was fast approaching. Speaking on a point of order at the Joint Sitting of the Parliament, he said generous donations should be given to especially flood-hit people residing in cold areas to provide them some solace.
He said water had not yet receded in dozens of districts as over 30 million people were rendered homeless due to the flash floods and devastating rains. The philanthropists, non-governmental organizations and others should come forward to help the flood affected people. Earlier speaking on the point of order, Mohsin Dawar demanded the issuance of production orders of Ali Wazir, a member of the National Assembly from South Waziristan. Ali Wazir was behind the bars, while PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Shehbaz Gill were roaming free despite “speaking against institutions”, he added.
He criticized the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision of postponing by by-elections in NA-45 Kurram on pretext of worsened law and order situation. The ECP had decided to hold by-polls in other 11 constituencies as per schedule except Kurram, he added. Senator Hidayatullah Khan strongly condemned a terrorist attack on a school van in Swat and urged the federal government to help maintain law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
