ISLAMABAD: The Senate, Monday, passed the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill 2023, making it mandatory that only those civil servants having a background in engineering can be assigned top posts in government entities related to infrastructure, energy, communication, and construction projects.
In the Senate session, Rukhsana Zuberi from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) moved the bill that was passed by the house.
The bill provides that that no civil servant shall be assigned to any ministry, division, or department under the government dealing with infrastructure, energy, water, communication, and works—such as ministries of Power, Energy, Planning and Development, Railways, Housing and Works, Water Resources, Industries and Production, Information Technology and Telecommunication, Science and Technology, Aviation Division, Defence Production, Maritime Affairs, and Communication—unless they are part of the Engineering Service of Pakistan and hold registration as a professional engineer or engineer according to the Pakistan Engineering Council Act 1976.
The Senate also passed other bills including Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023, Federal Ziauddin University Bill 2023, Protection of Family Life and Wedlock Bill 2023, Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Prime University of Nursing, Sciences and Technology (PUNST) Islamabad Bill 2023.
Several new bills were introduced in the house and referred to the relevant committees by Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani.
The house passed a unanimous resolution, terming August 5, 2019, as Black Day and expressing “unwavering support for the innocent people of Kashmir residing on the other side of the line of control.”
The resolution was presented by Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal.
The resolution stated that the abrogation of Articles 35-A and 370 of the Indian Constitution by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on August 5, 2019 “effectively stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy and led to the division of the state into two union territories.”
The Senate “firmly rejected India’s actions, deeming them illegal and in direct violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.”
The house also passed a resolution recommending changing the name of district Upper Waziristan to district Mehsud in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The resolution, presented by lawmakers including Dost Muhammad Khan, Fida Muhammad, Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, Kauda Babar, Falak Naz, Gurdeep Singh and Fawzia Arshad was unanimously passed by the house.
Subsequently, another resolution moved by Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, Abdul Qadir, Tahir Bizenjo, Prince Ahmed Umerzai, Muhammad Akram, Sarfraz Bugti, and Naseebullah Bazai, supporting the name Gwadar International Airport for the new airport in Gwadar, was subsequently withdrawn by the movers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023