ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Federal Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi said on Monday that the government was determined to rebuild the 16,000 or more government and private schools and colleges that had been destroyed in Azad Kashmir and the northern parts of NWFP during the Oct 8 earthquake. The quake destroyed more than 9,000 educational institutions in NWFP and over 7,000 in Azad Kashmir.

The education minister was speaking on a point of order in the Senate.

He spoke about efforts being made by government and private sectors to restore and set up schools for quake-affected students and assured the house that not a single boy or girl would be deprived of the opportunity of going to school.

He estimated the approximate cost of rebuilding the educational institutions at $500 million which would be presented in next week’s donors conference.

Earlier, the opposition lawmakers expressed anguish over reports of deployment of army, paratroopers and heavy armoury in and around Dera Bugti at a time when the country was endeavouring to recover from the earthquake shock.

Amanullah Kanrani of the JWP accused the government of sending reinforcements to Dera Bugti on October 18 to create an atmosphere of harassment and terror for local people.

Leader of Opposition Mian Raza Rabbani said it appeared the government wanted to launch another reign of terror for Baloch people which was against the wish of parliament.

He also condemned the recent police baton-charge against protesters in Muzaffarabad when the government tried to evacuate them from their homes.

Minister of State Nasim Mengal denied opposition’s contention about deployment of forces and said that the security was enhanced to protect some vulnerable people who had not cast their vote for certain political groups.

He claimed that no violation of human rights had occurred as a result of reinforcement of troops for protecting the rights of people.

Mohim Khan Baloch, a coalition lawmaker, said he would stand by Nawab Bugti if the March 14 action was repeated in his area. He pointed out that setting up a cell at Balochistan governor’s house under a brigadier to channelize federal funds was a violation of provincial autonomy and the chief minister of Balochistan had also protested.

Abdullah Riarr of PPP Parliamentarians referred to a question raised by the house standing committee about the fate of interest money charged on Rs5 billion deposited by some officials of Port Qasim Authority. He said six months had passed since the house committee had raised the issue but there had been no response so far.

He alleged that tenders worth Rs1.8 billion by the prime ministers’ secretariat for procurement of substandard tents, not resistant to rain and cold, was a deal aimed to benefit a federal minister from Faisalabad who was the owner of a textile mills.

Later, taking part in debate on the earthquake and its aftermath, Prof Khurshid Ahmed of the MMA stressed the need for soul searching and pondering over moral as well as spiritual aspects of the disaster while analysing its physical and natural aspects.

Mrs Tanvir Khalid highly appreciated the role played by government, army, NGOs and political parties who responded promptly to the country’s national disaster and attributed inadequate foreign aid to the known hatred prevailing in the country for western countries.

Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan of PML-N claimed no relief or rescue operators had so far reached in more than 50 per cent of the affected areas.

The former chief minister of the NWFP said while the army took over command and control of all quake-affected areas, all civil institutions including federal and provincial governments and local bodies were restrained from working. He called for a five-year national reconstruction plan for which every Pakistani should continuously contributes

Nighat Mirza stressed the need for taking steps to protect widows, the disabled and children.

The house was adjourned till 4 pm on Tuesday.