PML-N in Senate opposes proposal of new province in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Tuesday opposed the House Functional Committee on less developed areas’ proposal for creation of a new (Seraiki) province in Punjab, warning ‘it would open a new Pandora’s box, which would not be handled by us’.

Speaking on the Committee report, presented in the House by its Chairman Senator Usman Khan Kakar, Senator Mushahid showered praise on Sardar Kaurey Khan Jatoi for giving 11,000-acre of his land for the establishment of a university in Muzaffargarh. “People illegal occupy plots here and he has donated 11,000 acres of land for a university,” he noted while referring to the report.

Explaining his opposition to a new province, the veteran legislator said that Pakistan had four provinces, which had been given rights and resources under the 18th Amendment, which needed to be ensured judiciously. “There are governance issues and we can’t afford a new province in Punjab for it will then not confined to Punjab only and lead to a new political Pandora’s box, which we will not be able to handle,” he said.

Senators from across the aisle called for urgent attention to the less developed areas of the four provinces and among these Balochistan stood out with 99 per cent less developed areas and Punjab with 14 per cent. They decried the fact that despite being rich in terms of resources, like gold, copper, coal and other resources, the less developed areas continued to suffer. They called for provision of basic amenities in the less developed areas, like water, road, electricity, schools and colleges and healthcare.

The House was informed that hundreds of villages in four less developed districts of Punjab, including Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Rajanpur and Lodhran were without gas and electricity. It was surprising for many that piles of wheat were rotting, as local farmers were not allowed to sell their commodity to other provinces.

Earlier, the Senate passed the Foreign Exchange Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2019, empowering the State Bank of Pakistan to issue any regulation/ instruction relating to the inland movement of foreign currencies and regulate the foreign exchange regime.

The draft bill has already been cleared by the House standing committee concerned and was put to the House by Minister for Economic Affairs Division Hammad Azhar, which was passed by majority.

According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, foreign exchange policy and operations are governed under the provisions of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, which empowers the SBP to regulate flows of foreign exchange into and out of the country. However, the bank does not have explicit powers under the act to issue any regulation/ instruction to the inland movement of foreign currencies.

“It has also been considered necessary to enhance punishments provided in Section 23 of the act to create firmer deterrence against contravention of various provisions of the act. The bill, therefore, seeks to enable the SBP to regulate the foreign exchange regime in Pakistan more comprehensively as well as strengthen the effectiveness of the act,” it says.

The House also adopted the bill to amend the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act 2010 with stricter punishments to be imposed in an effort to bring individuals involved in money laundering to book. The title of the bill is: The Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2019.

On the issue of non-payment of dues to media workers, the House standing committee Chairman Senator Faisal Javed said that they had another meeting earlier in the day in which media houses were asked to pay two months salaries to their employees by the end of February.