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| October 9, 2005 | Sunday | Ramzan 4, 1426 |
Amended Hasba Bill to be tabled in PA soon
PESHAWAR, Oct 8: NWFP government has decided to table the amended version of the Hasba Bill and get it passed during the forthcoming session of the provincial assembly which is scheduled to meet on 10th.
Briefing journalists on the deliberations of the provincial cabinet, which held a brief meeting here on Saturday, provincial information minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai said the cabinet had discussed the Supreme Court’s decision against certain clauses of the Hasba Bill and decided to file a review petition to get them incorporated in the bill.
The powers of Mohtasib, enshrined in clause 25 of the bill was already being exercised by Mohtasibs of other provinces, he added.
Mr Daudzai said the law minister had briefed the cabinet about the supreme court’s verdict against a section of the bill. He was of the view that the deletion of main clauses had weakened the spirit of law. The law minister told the cabinet that a new but amended version of the bill was ready, which would be presented in the coming session of the assembly, he added.
The government, he added, would give a subsidy of Rs 35 million on providing flour to the people across the province. He said under its Ramazan package, government would distribute 15 million flour bags of 20kg each at 100 points of the province. On every Sunday, MPAs would supervise distribution of these flour bags in their respective constituencies.
He said the cabinet had also directed officials of food department and the district police to check the price lists and take action against the profiteers in their respective districts. He said the cabinet had directed both departments to ensure the availability of basic food items in their respective districts.
Mr Daudzai said the cabinet had also advised the buyers of the 11 million square feet timber to transport it by June 30 next year. The minister said the cabinet had retained the imposition of Rs 20 per square foot as forest duty transported from Gilgit to the NWFP. The government had auctioned this timber cut illegally in the past and sold to various parties, he added.
He said the cabinet had also approved the Bannu University of Science and Technology Bill which would be presented during the next session of the assembly. He said the Higher Education Commission would grant Rs 500 million for the varsity project. The provincial government had acquired 100 kanals for the varsity building, he added.
He said the cabinet had also advised the managements of the Iqra, Khyber and Abaseen universities established in the private sector, to fulfil academic standard set by the HEC, otherwise the provincial government would not permit them to operate in the province. In the past, he said, the NWFP government had taken the issue of the Saidu and Gomal medical colleges to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and got it solved.
The Higher Education Commission, he said, would also look into the issue of private universities located in different parts of the province.
RELIEF: About relief measures in the quake-hit northeastern districts, he said the government had established a base camp in Abbottabad to monitor the relief activities in Mansehra, Battagaram, Kohistan, Balakot, Garhi Habibullah, Shangla and other affected areas. The federal government had dispatched six truck-loads of medicines to Abbottabad, which would be handed over to hospitals, he added.
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