Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Monday rejected the Constitution (Amendment) Bill moved by Senator Karim Ahmed Khawaja relating to promotion of regional languages. The committee, which met with Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi in the chair, also rejected a public petition submitted by Zehra Bano Khan pertaining to the need for ratifying, ILO Convention 177 to provide basic rights to home based workers in the country.
Karamat Hussain Niazi, Secretary Ministry of Law Justice said that the existing provisions of article 28 and clause (3) of article 251 fully deals with fulfilling the requirement of Constitution Amendment therefore the Bill may be opposed. He said the Bill titled "The Constitution Amendment Act 2016" seeks to substitute article 28 of Constitution which deals with preservation of language, script and culture.
Senator Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah said that he supports the point of view of the Ministry of Law and Justice that Article 28 and clause (3) of article 251 of the Constitution deal with the promotion of languages. However, he also said that he has no objection over the inclusion of some languages in the relevant article, he added.
Saeed Ghani said that the amendment would have no negative impacts therefore it should be passed. Senator Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi said that he supports the amendment bill moved by Senator Karim Ahmed Khawaja. Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq did not support the Bill. Javed Abbasi said that naming a few languages in the amendment and leaving others will further complicate the problem.
The committee conducted voting on the Bill and rejected it with two votes in favour and two votes in opposition. The committee also rejected the public petition submitted by Zehra Bano Khan pertaining to the need for ratifying ILO Convention 177 to provide basic rights to home based workers in the country after holding detailed deliberation.
According to the petition, the number of home based workers is increasing with each passing day in the country therefore they should be provided all benefits. "According to a rough estimate the number of home based workers shot up to 800,000 therefore the ratification of ILO Convention 177 is necessary," it said.
A senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that only 11 countries in the world ratified the ILO Convention 177 and its ratification may create problems as following its ratification we have to fulfil additional obligations. "If we ratified the ILO Convention 177 then it would be a binding on us to fulfil all obligations," said Senator Muzafar Hussain Shah. He said that provinces should be asked to collect data of home based workers and give their detailed point of view whether ILO Convention 177 should be ratified or not.
A senior official of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan province also opposed the ratification of the ILO Convention 177 saying that it is too early to ratify the convention. Senator Saeed Ghani said the government of Sindh is working regarding legislation related to home based workers and would constitute a law on the matter within two months. Following detailed deliberation, the committee rejected the public petition. The committee directed the Ministry of Housing, Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), Ministry of Science and Technology and Capital Development Authority (CDA) to submit a detailed report with respect to implementation of building codes within 10 days.
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