October 05, 2006	Thursday	Ramazan 11, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: The federal cabinet has approved the energy conservation policy aimed at improving effective utilisation of energy in the country.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Durrani briefed reporters on the cabinet meeting here on Wednesday.

The minister said that the energy conservation policy would help meet requirements of the rising need of energy without putting additional burden on environmental resources.

The cabinet also approved national sanitation policy to provide adequate sanitation coverage for improving quality of life and physical environment necessary for healthy life, the minister said, adding that the main emphasis of the policy was to ensure safe disposal of liquid and solid waste, promotion of healthy and hygiene practices and to enhance capacity building of government agencies.

He said the government made gender harassment at work places a punishable offence by introducing an amendment in the Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000.

The amendment was introduced in the Section 2 (b) of the ordinance that redefined the word misconduct as “It also includes gender harassment at work place causing interference with performance and creating intimidating hostile work environment especially in relation to women”.

However, civil society organisations had been demanding approval of a comprehensive code of conduct for sexual harassment against women at work places, which suggested much stringent punishments.

Mr Durrani said that besides approving the charter for the Comsat university, the cabinet also awarded ‘degree awarding status’ to the Pakistan Institute of Developmental Economics.

The cabinet endorsed the revised criteria for the setting up of a new institution of higher education.

The minister said the cabinet was briefed by Erra Chairman Salim Altaf on the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the quake-affected areas of the NWFP and AJK.

Mr Altaf informed the cabinet that 80 per cent reconstruction work would be completed within the next three years and the rest in the following two years.

The federal cabinet also expressed satisfaction over market prices of commodities during Ramazan and provision of Rs12.5 billion subsidy on fertilizers, the minister claimed.