The lawmakers in Senate on Friday said that upper house of the parliament should be given more powers as the country's constitutional structure is on the basis of federalism that determines the relationship between federation and the provinces. Taking part in the debate on Finance Bill 2016, Senator Muzzafar Hussain Shah of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) said that Senate should be given more powers as our constitutional structure was based on federalism. "But what we practice is totally opposite so it's important that Senate should be empowered to protect the interests of the provinces," he added.
The Senate, which is called the house of federation, he added, was meant to protect the interests of the provinces. "This is the reason we want that Senate should be given more powers in financial matters especially pertaining to provinces," he added. He said that the report of Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) containing audit paras of all government departments was laid in Senate, but the house had no representation in Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that scrutinises the audit paras.
"The Senate should be given representation in PAC to oversee the financial matters related to provinces effectively and other government department otherwise, it's of no use," he added. He also said that the government was not bound to incorporate the recommendations made by Senate on annual budget, adding this gives an impression as the role of Senate is nothing but a mere post office.
Senator Shah proposed that the government should reduce import duty on agriculture sector-related machinery such as tractors, etc to facilitate the farmers as a lot more needs to be done if we are serious about promoting the agriculture sector. "The government should announce minimum support price for cotton and wheat after taking into consideration the production cost besides taking special measures for the irrigation sector which needs immediate attention of the state," he added.
Senator Dr Karim Khawaja of Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) proposed that if steps were not taken to bring the least developed areas at par with developed areas, the billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be of no use, adding 'it should be used for least developed areas'. He criticised the government for paying no attention to climate change, saying the allocation made by the government in the budget speaks volume on how seriously it takes the global issue of climate change.
Senator Sitara Ayaz of Awami National Party (ANP) said that special incentives should have been given to senior citizens. The women folk of the country who wanted to run small businesses to make a living, she added, were once again ignored in the budget. She said that less allocation was made for resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of South Waziristan Agency as their sacrifices for making this country terror free could not be forgotten.
Taj Afridi, a senator from federally administered tribal areas (Fata) lauded the budget and said government was serious about the uplift of tribal areas. "We appreciate the government as it has measures for socio-economic uplift of the country especially Fata," he added.
He said that the government should pay attention to health and education sector in tribal areas, as it was really hard to find a doctor, a teacher due to ongoing war against terrorism. He also demanded the government to fill the vacant posts of Levy Force to ensure peace in the area. Senator Muhammad Hamza lauded the steps taken by the government to improve the economy of the country. He said that more allocation for Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM), Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was a good step to facilitate the downtrodden and the poor.
He said that there was a need to increase the tax net, besides tightening the screw on the tax evaders, adding more job creation for the youth that is the future leaders of the country, should be the top priority of the government. Senator Khalida Parveen said that the economic indicators show that the hollow claims of the government to turn the country into an economic hub ended up in smoke due its flawed economic policies.
Senators Khanzada Khan, Dr Ashok Kumar, Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Gianchand also took part in the debate. Earlier, responding to a calling attention notice moved by Senator Taj Haider and others, Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid said that three more LNG terminals were being constructed while one had been completed at Port Qasim. He clarified that no Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal was being constructed on Bundal Island in Karachi. Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani referred the matter of the construction of LNG terminals to the Standing Committee on Climate Change.
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