ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Saturday nominated 15 senators for inclusion in the parliamentary committee to oversee the government’s efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The names were proposed by him through a letter to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser hours after their meeting held at the Parliament House to discuss the formation of the proposed committee.

Leader of the House Shibli Faraz, Opposition Leader Raja Zafarul Haq and Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati will also be the part of the committee to be named the Parliamentary Commit­tee on National Health and Economy in the wake of the Covid-19 situation.

Others who will represent the Senate in the parliamentary committee are Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Mushahidullah Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Sirajul Haq of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of the Muttahida Qaumi Move­ment (MQM), Hasil Bizenjo of the National Party, Mau­lana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Sitara Ayaz of the Awami National Party, Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Muzaffar Hussain Shah of the PML-Functional, Anwarul Haq Kakar of the Balochistan Awami Party and independent senator from erstwhile tribal areas Aurangzeb Khan.

In the letter, the Senate chairman proposed that besides the members from both the houses of the parliament, the chief ministers of all the provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan and the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir should be ex-officio members of the committee.

“The committee would ensure better coordination between various units of the federal government. Provinces and the regions, undertake deliberations and review and make recommendations on national health and economy in the situation,” wrote the chairman in his letter.

Earlier, in their meeting, the Senate chairman and the NA Speaker discussed the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and early formation of the parliamentary committee in that regard.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Interior Ijaz Ahmad Shah also met the NA speaker and discussed the outbreak of coronavirus in the country and the role of law-enforcement agencies.

The speaker said the law-enforcement agencies bore the heavy responsibility of protecting the lives of citizens in this critical time.

The minister briefed the speaker about the steps taken by the government and said everyone was being scanned at the borders and airports, and coronavirus suspects were being quarantined.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2020