The Ministry of Finance will brief Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs on the rules made to regulate the business of prize bonds here on Saturday at the Parliament House.
The committee, to be chaired by Senator Mohammad Kazim Khan, would discuss various agenda items including the two government bills-The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2010.
The Ministry of Finance has been invited to brief the committee on the rules made to regulate the business of prize bonds with particular reference to clause 2 of The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which is to be considered by the Senate panel for approval.
As passed by the National Assembly, The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2010 has been referred to the Senate Committee on February 03, 2011, which seeks to criminalize illegal business and dealing in fake prize bonds, aiming at preventing a financial loss to the innocent public and securing increased investment in the national saving schemes.
The committee would also discuss a private member bill titled "The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2010 introduced by Senators Professor Khurshid Ahmed, Professor Mohammad Ibrahim and Afia Zia. In its statement of objects and reasons, the bill stated that a sizeable number of the people of Pakistan are living in abject poverty and are deprived of the basic necessities of life. In the daily life, we see all over the country, hundreds of citizens are losing their patience to fight with the poverty and uncountable sad incidents are taking place in the country.
Promotion of social justice and economic well-being of the people of Pakistan is a constitutional duty of the government, but unfortunately successive governments have failed in ensuring that all members of the society have at least necessary wherewithal for survival, particularly food and medicines. Hunger and starvation have created situations where some of the people have in desperation committed suicide and even taken lives of their kiths and kin.
In above difficult circumstances citizens have no platform where they can raise their voice and get immediate relief because state has not made any mechanism for such relief.
In above amendment, the senators propose the following steps. That every destitute in the society shall have a right to social security which includes provision of such financial resources or basic necessities like food, clothing and medicine through state agencies. To ensure the provision on these facilities a mechanism is being suggested in the form of judicial intervention to make the system self-enforcing.