ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Devolution on Friday expressed annoyance over the absence of Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza and Federal Secretary IPC Ghufran Memom from the committee's meeting and asked the government to ensure the attendance of the senior government officials at the meetings of relevant committees of the Parliament.
"Parliament is superior to all other state institutions," said Committee Chairman Moula Bux Chandio, presiding over the committee meeting. "It is a matter of crying shame that the ministers and bureaucrats do not take the Parliament's committees seriously," he added.
Chandio said the Parliament's relevant committees are "most important forums" where the issues of public interest are debated, reviewed and their solutions are devised. "But when the policy makers become totally ignorant to the importance of the Parliament and its committees, then who would implement the decisions taken by the Parliament and its committees?"
The committee had sought a briefing from the federal IPC minister and secretary on tourism, a subject that falls under the administrative purview of the Ministry of IPC, but both the minister and secretary did not attend the committee meeting.
Committee member Lieutenant General (r) Salahuddin Tirmizi said "I am the member of four Senate committees. Barring one, no minister concerned bothers to attend any meeting of these committees."
Muhammad Ayub recommended that the matter should be taken up on the floor of the House in Senate.
Mushtaq Ahmed suggested to move a resolution in Senate against the federal IPC minister and secretary. However, committee chairman was of the view that a special report which binds the government officials toe ensure their attendance at the meetings of the Parliament and its committees has already been adopted by the Senate and it is the duty of the government to implement this report in letter and spirit.
The officials of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) briefed the committee that tourism subject has largely been delegated to the provinces while certain departments related to tourism are still headed by the federal government. The committee chairman said the federal government's stance regarding PTDC is totally confused and unconvincing. "In one meeting, the federal government officials brief us that PTDC is being shifted to provinces. They tell a different story in the next meeting. There is always a new story in every meeting. What is this? Tourism is on the committee's agenda for quite a long time but this agenda item is still pending due to a new story offered by federal government officials in every meeting."
Sassui Palijo said the discussion on the future of PTDC has been taken up at the Senate sessions on multiple occasions but the government has adopted a vague policy in this regard and is reluctant to take the Parliament into loop on the matter.
The chairman asked the government officials to come up with a clear stance regarding different issues involving tourism. The committee decided to further review the matter in the next meeting. The committee also discussed the devolution of health subject to the provinces, performance of health authorities during COVID-19 and other issues.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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