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| May 22, 2005 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1426 |
Balochistan PA to debate jobs for graduates: Motion admitted
QUETTA, May 21: The speaker of the Balochistan Assembly in its Saturday’s session admitted a joint adjournment motion tabled by some opposition member pertaining to the issue of unemployed engineers and agriculture graduates for discussion as the minister concerned did not oppose it.
Minister for Services and General Administration Mir Abdul Rehman Jamali, speaking on the admissibility of the motion moved by Sardar Azam Musakhel of the Pushtoonkhwah Milli Awami Party, said that 158 posts of research officers had been created in the agriculture department to accommodate unemployed agriculture graduates.
The minister stated that the provincial cabinet had decided to create 500 posts of engineers but the matter had not materialized so far.
He admitted that since 1990, no post of engineer had been created due to which the number of jobless engineers had increased and the issue had become sensitive. He added that had the provincial government created 100 posts of engineers every year, hundreds of engineers would have not been jobless today.
Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal of the PMAP, co-mover of the motion, pointed out that the situation had created unrest among unemployed engineers, two of whom had been observing a hunger strike unto death for 13 days.
Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar, while admitting the motion for debate on May 27, accepted a suggestion made by the minister and Samina Saeed of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal that some MPAs, led by the speaker, should visit the protest camp of the unemployed engineers to request for an end to the hunger strike unto death.
The speaker also admitted a privilege motion tabled by Shah Zaman Rind of the treasury benches about the failure of the Bolan DCO to utilize prime minister’s Rs10 million drought relief funds for the MPA for discussion on Tuesday.
The speaker constituted a four-member committee, comprising the excise and taxation minister, deputy speaker, provincial advocate- general and mover Mr Ziaratwal, to submit a report within seven days on his motion seeking an amendment to a bill tabled by the minister.
The minister had tabled the Motor Vehicles Taxation (amendment) Bill 2005 that suggests that owners of motorcycles at the time of their registration should pay Rs1,000 tax once for all whereas the opposition member’s amendment proposed Rs500 payment.
The minister, Mir Amanullah Notezai, tabled the Balochistan Urban Immovable Property Tax (amendment) Bill 2005 in the house.
Discussion on an adjournment motion of the opposition members pertaining to price hike and unemployment could not be completed due to lack of quorum and only John Ambrose Francis (Pakistan Muslim League), Shafiq Ahmed Khan (People’s Party Parliamentarians) and Samina Saeed (MMA) could express their views on it.
The session was adjourned till Tuesday.
HUNGER STRIKE: The two jobless engineers who were on a fast-unto-death strike for the last 13 days ended their strike following assurance by Speaker of the Assembly, ministers and members from the treasury and opposition benches that the government would resolve their problem.
Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar agreed when Minister for Services and General Administration Mir Abdur Rahim Jamali and opposition member Mir Akhtar Hussain Lango in the house during discussion on an adjournment motion requested the chair to lead the delegation to the hunger-striker’s camp, which had been established in front of the local press club.
The speaker accompanied by provincial ministers Mir Abdur Rahim Jamali and Sardar Masood Luni, ex-chief minister Mir Jan Jamali, opposition members Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Mir Lango and Shafique Ahmed Khan visited the camp.
The protesters, Amanullah Zehri and Muhammad Akbar Baloch, ended the strike when the speaker and others assured them that concerted efforts would be made to sort out the solution of the problem confronted by the jobless engineers.
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