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MPAs criticise bureaucracy
* PML-Q MPA complains of not being allotted room in Punjab House
* Law minister says he will summon official concerned
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly (PA) members strongly criticised the bureaucracy on Saturday besides chanting slogans of ‘shame, shame’ against it for misusing its authority.
The members from both the treasury and the opposition benches asserted that under a democratic set-up, the elected members of the House and not the bureaucrats should possess the real power and the parliament, which reflects public aspirations, needs to be strengthened.
Soon after the PA session started on Saturday, Dr Akhter Malik, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) legislator from Multan, told the House on a point of order that he was advised by the officials of the Punjab House to inform the administration just two days before any room was needed.
He said he had applied for a room in the Punjab House a week earlier than required but at the time of the allotment of the room, the official in charge refused to hand it over, saying that rooms in the Punjab house could only be allotted to bureaucrats and not to the elected members. Dr Akhter said it was really sad that an elected member of the House was refused a room in the Punjab House while most of the bureaucrats and their favourites were permanently using it.
Summon: Responding to the MPA, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said there was no rule barring any elected member from acquiring a room in the PUNJAB HOUSE. He assured the House that he would summon the concerned official and take up the issue with him.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) legislator, Mohsin Leghari said in the preparation of the budget none of the elected representatives had any role and every thing was done by the bureaucracy instead. MPA Ahmed Khan Baloch also lamented the interference of the bureaucracy in the affairs of various sectors and said elected representatives had lesser power. He said the elected members who represent a constituency of nearly 0.2 million voters were answerable to the people but the power belonged to the officials who had no practical link to the public.
He also said it was strange that the chief secretary of the province held a ‘Khuli Kutcheri’ without any elected members who were more aware of the people’s problems than the bureaucrat.
Daily Times:Sunday,June 28, 2009
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Opposition MPA slams shifting of CM’s Secretariat
LAHORE: An opposition MPA in the Punjab Assembly has strongly criticised the repeated shifting of offices of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Secretariat, claiming that the amount wasted in that process was public money and should instead be used for the people. Ayesha Javed was referring to a news item that Rs 1.4 million had been spent on shifting the secretariat 13 times from April to June. She said she failed to understand why public money was being spent for “meaningless purposes”. She said the funds could have been spent for a school or a health centre. Speaker Rana Iqbal asked if the MPA had any objection to the shifting of the offices, at which Javed said it was a very serious matter. She demanded that such expenses be stopped and the amount be spent for meaningful purposes. Meanwhile, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Rana Sanaullah said the matter was not based on facts. staff report
Daily Times:Sunday,June 28,2009
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