The National Assembly started its session at the Parliament House in Islamabad this evening with Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri in the chair. The House offered fateha for the departed souls of passengers died in the train accident at Daharki, near Ghotki, security personnel, and others. The House also prayed for early recovery of the injured.
Maulana Abdul Abkar Chitrali led the fateha.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said negligence of the previous governments have ruined all institutions, including Railways, due to which the nation is facing tragic accidents.
Responding to various points regarding the tragic train incident near Ghotki, he said previous governments of the PPP and the PML-N laid the foundation of the rule of corruption, loot, and plunder. He said they did not allow any institution to flourish on strong footings and ruined them by making political appointments.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the PTI government has so far appointed heads of 60 organizations and not a single of them is a political appointee. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan believes in merit and transparency and all appointments are being made in line with this vision.
He, however, invited the opposition to join forces with the government on judicial and electoral reforms instead of using the parliament to get relief in cases against their leadership.
Presenting a preliminary report of the Ghotki train incident, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said 12 coaches of Millat Express derailed near Daharki and fell across the down track and Karachi bound train Sir Syed Express collided with the derailed coaches. He said around 1,388 passengers were travelling on both the trains. He said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. He said relief and rescue operation is continuing on the incident site.
The House passed ten bills. These include “The University of Islamabad Bill, 2020”, “The Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2020”, “The Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2020”, “The Loans for Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Purposes (Amendment) Bill, 2019”, “The Global Change Impact Studies Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2020”, “The National College of Arts Institute Bill, 2020”, “The Protection of Communal Properties of Minorities (Amendment) Bill, 2020”, “The Islamabad Capital Territory Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation Bill, 2020”, “The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021”, and “The Hyderabad Institute for Technical and Management Sciences Bill, 2021.”
“The Elections (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021” and “Protection of Parents Ordinance, 2021” were also laid before the House.
Besides, “The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021” and “The Islamabad Healthcare Facilities Management Authority Bill, 2021” were introduced in the National Assembly.
The House will now meet at 5 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday)
Source: Radio Pakistan