The provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tuesday referred the crucial legislation for the establishment of Whistleblower and Vigilance Commission Bill 2015 to a select committee for threadbare vetting. The bill was introduced for consideration in the house by the Provincial Minister for law and Parliamentary Affairs, Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi. However, on the insistence of the opposition benches it was deferred and referred to the select committee of the house.
Announcing the referring of the matter, the Speaker Asad Qaiser said that the select committee will be comprised of the parliamentary leaders of all parliamentary parties of the house and the mover who has proposed amendments in the law. The purpose of the legislation is to establish a Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to enable the citizens to make public interest disclosures that relates to the irregular, illegal or corrupt practices and to protect them from disadvantageous measures and give them rewards for such public interest disclosures.
After the presentation of the Bill for consideration, Zarin Gul, a JUI-F affiliated MPA on a point of order said that the passage of legislation with high speed is not a good tradition. He said that soon after the passage in such a manner, the government use to require amendments in them. Therefore, he said the passage of the bill should be deferred for some time to give time to the members for holding threadbare deliberations on it.
However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed KP Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to adopt all those employees of federal government holding various posts in federal government entities on regular basis before 18th constitutional amendment and the said entities being devolved to the province in the pursuance of the aforesaid amendment as civil servants of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The house also admitted the identical adjournment motions of Syed Jaffar Shah, Sardar Hussain Babak of ANP and Bakht Baidar of QWP on loss of human lives and properties in recent devastated earthquake and rains for detailed discussion. During the Tuesday proceedings, the Senior Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (LG&RD), Inayatullah Khan introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government (Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the house.
Meanwhile, differences in ranks of ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa once again become visible after Qurban Ali a PTI legislator hailing from Nowshsera, the home district of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak alleged the continuation of illegal mining in the district.
The PTI legislator first welcomed the joining of QWP in the coalition government and especially appreciated the inclusion of woman legislator Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli as minister in the provincial cabinet. The decision of QWP, he said has promoted the soft image of KP, saying that PTI itself would have given this message.
He said Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has been given the portfolio, whose former minister is behind the bars. He said that though the minister is in prison, but those against whom FIR were registered are free. He said that if they cannot make a province then at least they can make a new district Nowshera where illegal mining is still continue.
The provincial minister Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli thanked the PTI MPA for sharing his feeling with her, saying that women should be guaranteed their rights and there is no second opinion in this regard. She said that as for as matters relating to her portfolio she will not make disclosers in the house. However, she wished good her good resolve. She said that she is enjoying the full trust of the Chief Minister and her party chief and will allow wrongdoing in the department and will come up to their expectations. Later, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings of the house till 2:00 pm of Friday.