May 10, 2005	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, May 9: National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain has asked the civil servants to work with motivation to effectively contribute towards the betterment of civil society in general and masses in particular. The speaker was talking to the participants of 82nd national management course from Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore, at the Parliament House on Monday morning.

The course participants were urged to keep an eye on the changing global scenarios and gain knowledge of the modern techniques of statecraft.

The speaker briefed the delegation on salient features of parliamentary democracy in vogue. He said prominent characteristics of the present Parliament included representation of educated youth, empowerment of women, special status given to religious minorities and strengthening of local governments system.

The delegates were apprised of the National Assembly’s performance and the steps being taken for empowerment of women. The speaker said women had been given high ratio of representation, and there were 60 women representatives in the National Assembly, elected on the reserved seats. This has enabled them to effectively contribute towards the development of the society, he added.

Later, additional secretary (legislation) briefed the delegation on the constitutional history of the Parliament as well as the working and functions of the National Assembly.

He informed them that the National Assembly embodied the will of the people to be governed under a democratic multi-party federal parliamentary system. The main functions of the National Assembly are to make laws in respect of the matters enumerated in the federal as well as the concurrent legislative list, he said.

The official, while briefing the delegates on the committee system of the National Assembly, said: “Our committee system is one of the best systems in the world.”

The committee system reviews the performance of each ministry and its attached departments to achieve the goals of good governance. The participants evinced keen interest in the briefing and asked various questions.

Pakistan Administrative Staff College principal thanked the speaker for giving them an opportunity to visit the National Assembly and arranging a comprehensive briefing. Mementos were also exchanged on the occasion.