November 29, 2006	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 7, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Mohammad Jamali on Tuesday received applauds from both the treasury and opposition benches when during the session he censured three government departments - PIA, Nadra and police - for their poor performance and wrong policies.

PIA came under criticism from the chair when Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan told the house that the airlines had sent 73 cabin crew staff members on three months’ leave due to their poor performance, weak spoken English and personal hygiene problems.

The minister was responding to an allegation levelled by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA)’s Senator Khalid Soomro during the Monday session that the PIA had asked its crew members to shave off their beards, and sent many of them on forced leave as a punishment.

The minister said it was wrong to say that the employees had been sent on forced leave. He said they had been asked to remove their deficiencies in three months. Moreover, he said, out of the 73 employees, 48 were females and, therefore, the question of beards did not arise at all. He said out of the remaining 25 males, if there were even five persons with beards, he himself would ask the house to refer the matter to the standing committee concerned.

MMA senators Kamran Murtaza and Khalid Soomro challenged the minister’s statement and claimed that all the 25 persons were bearded men and had been sent on forced leave.

The minister asked the MMA senators to provide him the names of at least five bearded employees and he would provide their photographs before the house.

The deputy chairman said PIA should conduct refresher courses for its staff to improve their spoken English and personal hygiene instead of asking them to sit at homes. Moreover, he said, PIA was not a holy cow and the officers who were involved in this affair should also be sent home for at least three months. He asked Senator Soomro to provide the names of the bearded employees and he would then refer the matter to the committee.

Nadra (National Database and Registration Authority) was the second victim of the deputy chairman’s critical remarks, when some treasury and opposition senators highlighted the problems being faced by the people in their respective areas in receiving computerised identity cards.

Speaking on points of order, Yasmeen Shah of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Raza Mohammad Raza of Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party criticised Nadra for creating hurdles in issuance of identity cards. Senator Raza said like Wapda, Nadra was a disease which had no cure. He said retired army personnel were running the affairs of Nadra and they did not pay heed to people’s complaints.

Mr Jamali said it was regrettable that agents were busy in minting money outside Nadra offices and people were suffering.

The police received the same treatment from the chair when People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP)’s Senator Ratna Chawala drew the attention of the house towards increase in the incidents of street crimes in Karachi. Quoting a news report, she said 68 persons were deprived of their cars, motorcycles or cellphones in the city in a single day.