KARACHI, Aug 18: In a lacklustre session, the Sindh Assembly on Monday approved the Sindh Information Technology Board amendment bill. Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah presided over the session which commenced very late.

The opposition PPP-Parliamentarians was not in the house owing to its MPAs' commitment in connection with the by-election for the NA-229 Tharparkar. Some MPAs of the Muttahida Majlis-Amal were present in the house.

Owing to the by-election, there was hardly any interest shown by members in the day's proceedings and the thin attendance appeared to be an evidence. Minister for Law Chaudhry Iftekhar Ahmed introduced another bill which pertained to amendment to the Private Universities and Educational Institution Law. The proposed amendment is aimed at replacing the words 'University Grants Commission' with 'Higher Education Commission'.

Presenting the bill on the Sindh Information Technology Board, the law minister said the move was aimed at making the Board more vibrant and also strengthening mutual consultation.

Governor would be the chairman and IT minister vice-chairman of the Board which would have 11 members, seven of them to be appointed by the government from private sector. Mr Hameedullah advocate of the MMA, cautioned the house against approving the amendment in a haste. He suggested that the bill be sent to the assembly's standing committee.

Regarding the chairmanship of the Board, Mr Hameedullah suggested that the powers should be delegated to an MPA. He was of the view that adoption of this bill would be an injustice to the people of Sindh. He claimed that the amendment might have been proposed to appease some people.

The speaker put the bill before the house which approved it unanimously as opposition did not take part in the voting. Earlier, MMA's parliamentary leader in the assembly Maulana Umar Sadiq raised the issue of harassment of the residents old settlements located behind the New Sabzi Mandi allegedly by builders.

Criticizing the government for not taking notice of the situation, Maulana Sadiq asked whether the government wanted these people to be dislodged from their houses and the builders, ganged up with some government functionaries, to continue minting money.

The chair directed the Minister for planning to look into the matter. Mr Hameedullah sought to move an adjournment motion on the recent bomb blasts near Binnoria Town seminary in the SITE area earlier this month. The law minister opposed the motion. The speaker reserved his ruling on the matter.

Abdur Rahman Rajput of the MMA recalled that the Centre had released an amount of Rs400 million for the development work in Hyderabad. He asked the government to inform the house that where had the amount gone.

The speaker asked the law minister to collect the details and inform the house in the next session. The law minister was asked to do so as Finance Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed was not present in the house because of illness. The latter has been admitted to a hospital.

The treasury benches were divided on a privilege motion moved by Hafiz Naeem of the MMA who alleged that his privilege was breached by the attitude of an officer in the passport office.

While the minister for law opposed the motion as being out of order, Minister for Mines Irfanullah Marwat and Minister for Home Abdur Rauf Siddiqui came out with support.

Hafiz Naeem told the house that he, along with one of his voters Shamsher Ali, had visited the passport office where Deputy Director Khair Mohammad created difficulties for him and declined to do the necessary work.

The official, he said, told him that a full inquiry would be held before issuing a passport to someone accompanied or recommended by him (Hafiz Naeem) as an MPA.

The minister for law informed the house that the concerned official had been contacted to explain his position. The official, he added, had stated in his report that Hafiz Naeem was a frequent visitor to the passport office and had always been accorded the respect he deserved.

"Since the matter pertained to a woman applicant, it was required to verify whether or not she was an Afghan. The passport was issued to her accordingly," said the law minister.

On this ground, the law minister opposed the motion. However, he did not object to the suggestion that the motion be sent to a special committee. Irfanullah Marwat disagreed with the law minister, arguing that the official's statement should not be taken on face value.

He insisted that the official be advised to show respect to elected representatives. Abdur Rauf Siddiqui endorsed Mr Marwat's views. Later, the session was adjourned till Friday morning.