|
|
|
| March 25, 2006 | Saturday | Safar 24, 1427 |
No official residences for Senate chief, NA speaker
ISLAMABAD, March 24: No official residences have so far been built for the chairman Senate and Speaker National Assembly, the offices that remain in vogue even after completion of their terms and until their successors come in.
It may not be a deliberate neglect but it certainly speaks about the scant respect the successive governments have been according to the two highly powerful offices of a democratic setup, and the accommodations built for only 27 ministers fall too short to accommodate about 80 men of their status.
The institution of Senate was first established in 1973 under the constitution passed same year while the National Assembly’s institution was as old as Pakistan when constituent assembly came into being.
The Senate, which is constitutionally a permanent institution and remains in vogue even after the lower house and other assemblies are dissolved but every chairman and deputy chairman live in their private or rented residences, and no proposal for construction of their residences is pending.
Construction on the residences of speaker and deputy speaker NA was stopped some time back, even though their foundation stones were laid, on the ground that the land belonged to the Supreme Court judges.
The 27 ministerial houses are also shared by attorney general of Pakistan as well as advisers to the prime minister like Dr Ataur Rahman whereas only three accommodations were under construction for which 15 candidates are on the waiting list.
Government pays Rs50,000 per month house rent to those ministers who have not been allotted official residences while the house rents have swollen to around Rs200,000 for three-bed units in the capital especially following the October 8 earthquake.
In this situation only those ministers or officials of minister’s status could cope with the situation who have either their own accommodation or are affluent enough to pay such huge rents.
More disgusting is the situation for the members of parliament who are lodged in the parliament lodges, which were constructed on the initiative of a former speaker Gohar Ayub Khan but without proper maintenance and repairs.
The lawmakers have raised the issue of lack of security, repairs and maintenance of these lodges time and again on floor of both the houses but to no avail as the CDA does not have sufficient funds to meet the demand.
Many of the servant quarters attached to parliament lodges and meant for accommodating parliamentarians servants are occupied by the CDA staff members.
Situation in the parliament lodges has worsened such extent that 3-4 kilograms fattened rats are freely roaming in rooms of the parliamentarians and some of them dancing above their heads inside the false ceiling.
A number of members of upper house out of 50 who have recently been inducted after retirement of former ones, face difficulty in finding suitable accommodation as their predecessors have handed over keys to the newly elected senators of their own parties.
Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali, the newly elected deputy chairman Senate, is one such member that is without accommodation in the capital so far.
|
|
|
|
