ISLAMABAD: A Senate subcommittee has unanimously approved amendments to the National Disaster Management Act 2010, with special attention to the rehabilitation of widows and orphans in the aftermath of natural disasters.

“A special fund will be created by the government to compensate for the losses women and children face after floods and other natural disasters,” Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Shaikh told a subcommittee of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change on Wednesday.

The bill to amend the National Disaster Management Act was moved by Senator Sheikh.

Once amended, the prime minister will be bound to call a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)once a year.

Senator Shaikh said that as a follow-up, the NDMA’s performance will be summed up in a biannual report, in light of the decisions taken and the implementation of directives passed during the meeting headed by the prime minister.

Little progress on whether to consolidate three separate laws related to natural disasters

He said there was no fixed timeline to hold a meeting headed by the prime minister that would assess the NDMA’s performance.

The prime minister has not called a meeting to discuss the NDMA’s performance in the last five years.

The amendments also prioritise the rehabilitation of women and children in the aftermath of natural disasters, and allow all those affected to claim compensation in the event of a natural disaster. Under the act prior to the amendments, only those affected by floods can be rehabilitated.

A provision in the act that stated “to ensure the restoration of livelihood through provision of agricultural inputs by introducing a comprehensive agriculture rehabilitation package”, “agricultural” and “agriculture” have been replaced in the bill by “economic”.

Another section that reads “to set up efforts for the rehabilitation of flood affected with special reference to women and children”, the word “flood” has been replaced by “any”.

The proposed amendments will now go to the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change before being discussed by Senate.

The subcommittee did not make significant progress on the matter is had met to discuss: the legal implications of the consolidation of the West Pakistan National Calamities (Prevention and Relief) Act 1958, Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) Act 2011 and the National Disaster Management Act.

All the subcommittee members were of the view that the three laws should be consolidated into one, rather than having three separate laws to deal with natural disasters.

Committee members also said that officials from the Ministry of Climate Change, NDMA and the Law Division could sit together to make necessary changes to club all three laws.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2017