As many as five bills were introduced in the National Assembly on Wednesday while one of them relating to Pakistani citizenship was rejected.
The bills which were introduced in the Lower House of the Parliament include the Islamabad Capital Territory Domestic Workers Bill, 2019, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019, (Article 51 and 59), the Protection of Persons against Forced Religious Conversion Bill, 2019, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The House rejected the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was presented by MNA from North Waziristan and leader of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) Mohsin Dawar. Federal Interior Minister Brig Ijaz Ahmad Shah (retd) opposed the bill. He said this law would be misused. After it, the House rejected the bill with majority.
According to the bill, "Any man who has been married to a citizen of Pakistan will be entitled, on making application; therefore, to the federal government in the prescribed manner, and, if he is an alien, on obtaining certificate of domicile and taking oath of allegiance in the form set out in the schedule to the this act, to be registered as a citizen of the Pakistan."
'The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, (Article 51 and 59)' proposes legislation for providing representation of disabled persons in the Senate and National Assembly.
Earlier, the National Assembly was informed that 'the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority Bill' will soon be laid before the Parliament for approval.
Minister for Housing Tariq Bashir Cheema told the House during the Question Hour that this authority will provide one window facility to private sector to invest in this mega project for construction of five million houses.
He said the prime minister has launched the housing projects in Islamabad, Quetta and Okara, adding that construction work on the sites will soon commence.
Tariq Bashir Cheema said Rs 5 billion have been allocated to provide interest free loans to those who cannot build their houses. He said that estimated per unit cost of each housing unit under this project will be Rs 3 million. He said that Rs 2.7 million loans will be provided to the people through banks to construct the houses. He said the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme will be executed keeping in view the codal formalities.
Minister for Power Omer Ayub told the House that the government plans to install concentrated solar power plants in Balochistan. For this purpose, "We are also in negotiations with Saudi Arabia. We also plan to establish small water reservoirs in Balochistan," he added.
Parliamentary Secretary for National Food Security Muhammad Ameer Sultan told the House that the present government has declared agriculture emergency in the country to enhance the productivity of this important sector. He said, "We have allocated Rs 284 billion for thirteen projects related to agriculture to bolster the yield of major crops."
Responding to a call attention notice, Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar told the House that the State Bank of Pakistan has started a scheme with the funding of World Bank to provide loans to the farmers below the market rates through the microfinance banks. He said that nine billion rupees have been allocated for this purpose.