The Senate Standing Committee on Health on Saturday expressed serious reservations over attitude of senior bureaucracy towards the Committees of the Parliament. The committee meeting chaired by Senator Kulsoom Parveen took exception to the absence of Minister for Health and Secretary Health from today's meeting saying that it would recommend action if the Ministry continue with the similar attitude in future.
"The bureaucracy must learn to respect the Committees of the Parliament as these are an extension of the Parliament itself", it added. The meeting was convened to review the progress report on the recommendations made by the Committee in its meeting held on August 17, at JMPC, Karachi. It regretted that the Sub-Committee constituted earlier to look into the affairs of JMPC with a view to improving the facilities available there has not yet been provided with relevant papers by the organisation.
"We are elected representatives of the people but we have been repeatedly let down by the bureaucracy, which is adept in taking refuge behind lame excuses like meetings, presentations and programmes which incidentally have no bearing for the country and the nation", committee members observed. 'Nothing has precedence over Parliament or its Committees', they said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairperson of the Committee said "We are striving to improve health facilities for the people and struggling desperately to sort out issues relating to health. As such the Committee needs to be facilitated in performing this task," she maintained. The meeting was attended, among others, by Senators Dr Khatumal, Farhat Abbas, Muhammad Zahid Khan, Abdul Haseeb Khan, and Semeen Siddiqui.
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