March, 17 2005	Thursday	06 Safar 1426

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ISLAMABAD, March 16: Parliamentarians from the treasury and opposition benches joined hands during the National Assembly question hour on Wednesday to blast Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for what they said was a big fraud being perpetrated on the nation through multi-million-rupee publicity campaigns of self-glorification in the name of “Our Dream-Educated Punjab.” A treasury MNA, Rashid Akbar Khan, also questioned the government’s decision to make Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi a federal minister for education despite the fact he negotiated a multi-million dollar contract for procurement of faulty railway engines during his stint in the railway ministry.

The accusations on the Punjab CM for self-glorification with pictures of President Gen Musharraf in the advertisement campaigns of “Parha Likha Punjab” echoed first from the coalition partner of PML-Q, MNA Farooq Azam of Millat Party, when he said millions of rupees were spent on the advertisements but the benefits of the education sector reforms initiative were an elusive dream for the children of his constituency in Bahawalpur. He wanted to know where the money was being spent in the name of Parha Likha Punjab.

The parliamentary secretary for education, Jaffer Hussain, tried to absolve the federal government of any responsibility on the issue and said since the matter was a provincial matter, the MNA should seek details from the Punjab CM.

PPP MNA Zamurud Khan claimed that Rs5 million was spent everyday on the fraudulent advertisement campaigns by the Punjab CM. He challenged the treasury benches that he would resign if it could be proved that any of the 18 schools in his constituency received any funds for improvement of education from the initiative. He said if the government could not prove that it spent the amount, then the education minister should resign.

Deputy Speaker Sardar Yaqoob rescued the parliamentary secretary from taking on the challenge of the PPP MNA when he said Zamurud Khan’s constituency was in the Punjab and the answer could not be sought from the federal education ministry. The deputy speaker also asked Zamurud Khan not to make an emotional speech as if he was addressing a public rally.

Tehrik-i-Insaf MNA Imran Khan was the next to put the government on the back-foot over the advertisement campaigns when he started off by rejecting the argument advanced by the parliamentary secretary and the deputy speaker.

“What’s the role of the federal government if it cannot monitor the makings of a big fraud?” said Khan. He said the National Assembly represented the entire country and all the matters of public importance could be discussed here.

He said more than half the schools in his constituency were closed and not a single penny of the Rs7 billion funds had been spent in his constituency. When the parliamentary secretary asked Mr Khan to bring the matter to the notice of the relevant authorities in writing, Mr Khan said he had informed the former education minister, Zobaida Jalal, on a number of occasions about the pathetic state of affairs in the schools but no action had been taken. He said he talked to Lt-Gen Qazi as well but to no avail.

A PPP MNA from Lahore also questioned the use of funds for publicity campaign of Mr Elahi while claiming that no funds had been spent for the betterment of education in her constituency.

A ruling party MNA from Bhakar, Rashid Akbar Khan, amidst loud thumping of desks, said both the education minister and the minister of state did not deem it appropriate to attend the house and the job of defending the policies was entrusted to a parliamentary secretary, who was not well versed in the policy matters.

The ruling party MNA expressed his displeasure over the appointment of Lt-Gen (retired) Ashraf Qazi as the education minister. He said “Qazi took the railways down the hill and now education ministry has been entrusted to him to be ruined.”

Earlier, the MMA and the PML-N staged a walkout against the parliamentary secretary for education when he said a controversial questionnaire seeking information about sexual habits of students was not sent by the Aga Khan Board but was part of a WHO study on HIV being conducted through Aga Khan Foundation.

MMA’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, while flashing a copy of the questionnaire, accused the parliamentary secretary of misleading the house and led the MMA and PML-N MNAs to stage a token walkout.