ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation on Friday recommended that all subordinate legislation or rules should be made public or uploaded on the websites of the ministries concerned, so that it could be easily accessible to the public and the government officials.

The committee which met with Senator Kauda Babar in the chair issued directives to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) and other departments to make all delegated legislation or rules public.

Babar said that majority of rules made in the past were not according to the laws. He said that the government officials make rules as per their desire. The committee will move a bill for framing mechanism for making rules, and to bind all departments to make rules within six months after passage of an act, he said.

Secretary MNFS&R Ghufran Memon briefed the committee about rules / regulations framed by the ministry that outline mechanism for appointments against senior posts in the ministries attached departments. Heads of various departments were not appointed as rules were not made according to law, he said. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued directives that the heads of those institutions which did not have heads should be appointed within three months.

The secretary also briefed the committee about recently advertised posts by the ministry for appointment of heads of four attached departments. Memon said that according to rules such positions should be filled by promoting officers within the department to provide opportunity of promotion to official of the same department. Due to lack of required educational qualifications and required grade, the appointment of heads could not be made, he said. There were no grade 20 officer within the department as we needed grade 20 officers due to which we advertised the post. These new people will be hired for one-year contract after which our own people will post on these positions after their promotion, he said.

Memon also said that his ministry had also started work to change rules in order to accommodate people form within own attached departments. He told the committee that the attached departments of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) include, Agriculture Policy Institute (API), Animal Quarantine Department (AQD), Department of Plant Protection (DPP), Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD), Federal Water Management Cell (FWMC), Fisheries Development Board (FDB), Livestock and Dairy Development Board (LDDB), and the National Veterinary Lab (NVL).

The other attached departments of the MNFS&R are the National Fertilizer and Development Centre (NFDC), Plant Breeder's Rights Registry (PBRR), Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO), Pakistan Oil Seed Development Board (PODB), Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC), and the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021