The Upper House of the Parliament on Friday referred a bill to grant degree awarding status to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economic (PIDC), to the concerned committee for more consideration. The bill, the Pakistan Institute of Development Economic Bill, 2010, has already been passed by the National Assembly, however Senators Raza Rabbani and Ishaq Dar moved a motion in the House to refer it to Senate committee for more consideration.
Meanwhile, Senators Zafar Ali Shah and Raza Rabbani expressed great concern over a statement of US Secretary for Defence regarding presence of Blackwater in Pakistan. They asked the Chairman that a categorical statement should be given by the Interior Minister over the issue. Raza Rabbani on another point of order said, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has rejected a proposal to give 12.5 percent shares to labourers of the institution.
He further said that it was the manifesto of the PPP-led government that the shares of any company should be given to its employees, but SBP being the representative of banking cartel has rejected the 12.5 percent share for the employees. PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar strongly opposed the point of order, while the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan informed the House that he has written to the Minister of State for Finance regarding the issue and assured that labour rights would be protected at any cost.