ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Zahid Hamid hinted on Tuesday at postponement of the population census till next year.

Responding to a calling attention notice moved by retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum Khan of the PML-N, the minister said the sixth national population census could be conducted in November or in March next year, depending on the availability of personnel of the armed forces.

The government, which has been facing criticism from the opposition as well as other sections of society for the delay in the census, had earlier been asserting that it would definitely be held this year. This is for the first time that a minister has announced in parliament that the exercise may face further delay, till next year.

Mr Hamid said the Council of Common Interests (CCI) had decided last year to conduct the census under the army’s supervision in March this year and Rs2 billion had been released for the purpose.

However, he said, the CCI had to reschedule the census because of non-availability of the troops in the wake of the ongoing Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

He said more than 350,000 troops were required to conduct the gigantic exercise.

Mr Qayyum said holding the census was a constitutional obligation of the government and was needed for distribution of resources among provinces and re-allocation of seats in the federal and provincial assemblies before the next general elections due in 2018.

RARE OPPORTUNITY: Meanwhile, the senators got a rare opportunity to speak on any matter at their will as Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani looked for speakers for participation in the debate on the federal budget.

Taking advantage of the situation, the members raised a number of diverse issues, ranging from violence against women and children and illegal postings in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to poor conditions for the animals in the Islamabad zoo.

Mr Rabbani referred a number of issues to the committees concerned.

The chairman opened the floor for the members when he found that the senators who were scheduled to take part in the budget debate were not present.

Mr Rabbani, who is otherwise very strict on the members’ attendance at the time of taking up business, allowed the members to keep raising issues on points of order so that the absent members could get time to return to the house.

Muzaffar Shah of the PML-F regretted that the government had not allocated funds for the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) in the budget despite the fact that it was a statutory body.

He said there were reports that the government wanted to set up a parallel institution which should be avoided.

The chairman wondered how the government could abolish the institution which was being set up for a “blue-eyed boy” and for which it had even allocated an amount in the budget.

The PPP’s Farhatullah Babar said there was no need for a parallel human rights body in the presence of the NCHR. He said the government had allocated Rs150 million for the proposed National Institute of Human Rights. He said the Senate committee on human rights was looking into the matter and would dwell deep into it.

Mr Babar also expressed concerns over a jail sentence awarded to a political activist, Babajan, and others in Gilgit-Baltistan on charges of terrorism.

Terming it an abuse of judicial processes by the administration, the senator said on one hand the authorities were denying mainstreaming of the area by flaunting the official stance on the Kashmir issue and on the other had human rights defenders were being dubbed as terrorists and sentenced.

“This will alienate the patriotic people of this sensitive area and make the realisation of the CPEC dream difficult,” he said.

Mr Babar said that while calls were being made for the accountability and resignation of the prime minister on the issue of Panama leaks, no one was talking about a sitting judge supposedly named in the same documents.

“This is double standards. The duality of approach in treating one section of society differently from other sections and the sacred cow syndrome must come to an end,” he said.

Opposition Leader Aitzaz Ahsan accused the government of appointing a controversial person as inspector general of police in Azad Kashmir.

He said the AJK prime minister had written a letter to the federal government with a request to withdraw the appointment of a “highly politicised and biased person” as the IG at a time when elections in the region were just a month away.

The PPP’s Parliamentary Leader Saeed Ghani drew the attention of the house towards “illegal appointments” of some 20 officials in higher grades. He said that when this issue was previously raised by him, the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau had immediately removed the officials, but later appointed them again on an “own pay scale” basis.

Mr Rabbani referred the issue to the committee on law and justice.

The chairman also asked the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change to prepare a comprehensive report on the working of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) by the next session of the house.

He issued the directive when former climate change minister Mushahidullah Khan informed the house that the PMD needed at least 10 weather stations for exact forecasts and at least Rs1bn was required to construct one station.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2016