ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday passed four bills including “State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2021”, “The National Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen Wa Khatamun Nabiyyin Authority Bill, 2022”, “The Public-Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022”, and “The National Highways Safety (Amendment) Bill, 2021”.
‘State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2021,’ was presented in the House by Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha and was passed with a majority vote.
Before tabling the bill, Aisha Ghous Pasha presented a motion to allow for introducing and tabling the bill for passage without sending it to the relevant Standing Committee of the National Assembly. Therefore, the House passed the bill with a majority after introducing and tabling it without sending it to the concerned Standing Committee for deliberations. Now, the bill will be sent to the Senate for its approval.
According to the objects and reasons of State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2021, “the purpose of this law is to define the role of federal government as a shareholder with a view to enable an effective discharge of its obligations as such, to introduce transparency of operations and to establish a central database of information pertaining state-owned enterprises to support data-driven policy making by the Federal Government.”
The legislation is applicable to all companies and corporate bodies that are owned and controlled by the federal government, including those established under special enactments.
According to clause four of the bill, “The Federal government shall, at least once in every five years, prepare and prescribe a state-owned enterprise ownership and management policy for giving effect to the objective of this Act, namely: - (a) that the shareholding responsibilities of the Federal government with respect to its state-owned enterprises are clarified; (b) that the federal government acts as an informed and active shareholder; and (c) that fiscal risk associated with state-owned enterprises are effectively managed: Provided further that the first policy to be develope4d under this Act shall be notified no later than one year from the coming into effect of this Act. Provided further that in the development of polices under this section, the federal government may seek input and assistance from the relevant stakeholders, including any regulatory body, as may be required.”
The clause 29 described the role of the federal government as according to it, “Federal government shall exercise all the powers and rights that shareholders have in relation to the state-owned enterprise under the law or the constitution of the state-owned enterprise. The manner of exercise of shareholders rights with respect to the state-owned enterprise shall be prescribed in the state-owned enterprise ownership and management policy and shall include, without limitation.”
The House unanimously passed The National Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen Wa Khatamun Nabiyyin Authority Bill, 2022 with some amendments.
According to some amendments, the expression “Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen”, the expressions Rahmatul-Lil-Aalameen Wa Khatamun Nabiyyin”, shall be subtitled. According to another amendment in clause-6 as “to visualize, monitor and take notice of the activities of Qadianiyat, Ahmadiyat, Lahoriat, Jewism and all other such religions, organizations and institutions who are against Islam and Pakistan and take necessary steps, including the legal procedure as provided in the law, to address and counter the situation created due to their propaganda and actions; and guide the National Curriculum Council to include the topics of Seerat-e-Nabi and finality of Prophethood in the Textbooks.”
According to objectives of the bill, “Objective of the Authority is ‘to promote research on Seerat, guide young generation on key humanistic elements of Holy Prophet’s life,’ review, consolidate and support international literature and narrative around Seerat, building linkages with provincial governments and prominent institutions working on Seerat, promote Seerat chairs in higher education insitutions and formulate strategies and frameworks for organizing impactful events to promote le4ssions of Seerat-ul-Tayyabba.”
According to the objectives and reasons of The Public-Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022, an amendment was made in Public-Private Partnership Authority Act, 2017 to award strategic projects of national importance including “Silakot (Sambrial)-Kharian Moterway Project” in public-private partnership mode which was being delayed due to the legal issues.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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