Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Tahira Aurangzeb told the National Assembly on Tuesday that gas loadshedding is one of the leading causes behind the rising number of divorces in Pakistan.

Tahira Aurangzeb, the mother of Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb, told the lower house that quarrels between couples have become routine because wives are unable to prepare food on time for the household due to gas loadshedding.

"As a result, husbands get irritated, which leads to the couple getting separated," Aurangzeb claimed, adding the gas load shedding has spawned a real menace.

Aurangzeb questioned the government about progress on the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project and demanded the house be updated on it.

The house should be informed who exactly is responsible for the mess [in the family life of consumers], she said, adding the tension between husbands and wives impacts children, "the future generation of the country", negatively.

The debate began when another parliamentarian Naeema Kishwar of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl tabled a resolution on gas load shedding.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was absent from the house.

When the NA Deputy Speaker Murtaza Abbasi learned of his absence, he was upset.

Federal Minister for Law Zahid Hamid informed the deputy speaker the petroleum minister was attending a meeting of a cabinet committee, which annoyed Abbasi even further.

"The house is more important than a cabinet committee meeting," the deputy speaker said.