ISLAMABAD, April 2: National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Friday directed the government to ensure presence of senior officers of the ministries and divisions in the galleries during the question hour of the Lower House.
The speaker's observation came when a number of members drew his attention towards the non-serious approach of the bureaucracy towards the House proceedings.
The members raised the issue on non-compliance of questions, as out of thirteen questions pertaining to the interior ministry, only three were replied.
Even the PML-Q acting chief whip Nasrullah Dareshak on a point of order deplored that the bureaucracy was creating hurdles to the prompt replies of the questions asked by the members. He said that earlier it was a normal practice that the federal secretaries or senior officers used to sit in the galleries to jot down points on the discussions taking place in the House on different questions. But nowadays the practice has been done away with, as the galleries remain empty, he said
At this, parliamentary secretary for interior, Sanaullah Mastikhel, said that the interior minister himself had rejected the answers of few questions because he was not satisfied with the replies provided. Besides, he said, his ministry had received the list of questions only on March 27 and it was not possible for the ministry to provide complete answers of all the questions.
However, the parliamentary secretary was confronted by the speaker saying that he should check the facts because ten clear days had always been given to the ministries on questions so that they could prepare complete replies.
Mr Mastikhel said the officers of the interior ministry had already been warned that if prompt and complete answers to the questions of the members were not provided, they would be removed from their seats.
Riaz Hussain Pirzada of the National Alliance also sought the speaker's ruling on the issue by saying that the speaker should ensure presence of responsible officers from the ministries and divisions concerned on their respective Rota days.
The speaker, however, observed that since the Leader of the House (Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali) was present in the House, he was also taking notice of the situation and would take remedial measures.