Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani has said that there is need to make the committee system more robust and efficient to perform legislative, accountability and oversight functions of the Senate effectively and contribute towards good governance in the country. He made these remarks while presiding over a meeting of the Council of Committees Chairpersons held here at the Parliament House on Tuesday.
The Senate chairman said that the Senate is the House of Federation and it must get more powers to become an effective voice of the federating units as well as marginalised segments of the society. "We will initiate consultation with the government to make the Senate more powerful and enable it to contribute more efficiently towards strengthening democratic foundations of the country," the Senate chairman said.
Agreeing to the proposals of the committee chairpersons, Sanjrani said that capacity building of the members and staff is on high priority and proposals are being considered to enhance capacity through trainings and orientations which would have a long lasting impact on the performance of both the Houses of the Parliament and the committees. He said that Senate Secretariat is providing assistance to the committees for smooth execution of the business. He appreciated the Senate Secretariat for excellent service delivery despite scant resources and constraints. He particularly mentioned the recent Asian Parliamentary Assembly meetings of Political Affairs Committee held in Gwadar wherein the Senate Secretariat delivered against heavy odds, challenges and constraints. However, he urged the Secretariat to work hard for improving the support services to committees.
Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla, Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq also emphasised upon the need to further strengthen committees of the Senate.