Lack of facilities: KP Assembly speaker asks CM’s aide to visit prisons

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani on Tuesday asked Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Prisons Shafiullah Khan to visit jails in the province and check the available facilities.

He said though the jail inmates could be accused, convicts and even innocent people, they were human beings and deserved to be provided facilities.

The speaker said that basic necessities of life should be ensured to the prisoners as it was their right and the responsibility of the government to do so.

The speaker gave his ruling over a question by Humera Khatoon of Jamaat-e-Islami.

In her question, she said most of the prisons were overcrowded and lacked basic facilities.

In his reply, Shafiullah admitted that some prisons were overcrowded, saying that more jails were being constructed to overcome this problem.

On a point raised by Mian Nisar Gul about non-implementation of his rulings, the speaker asked the secretariat to present him the three years record of his rulings.

He ruled that the secretary health should be present in the House on Friday.

He said in future if the officials of the department concerned upto to the level of additional secretary was not present and a question was found incomplete or the minister concerned was not briefed on bills then the secretary would be called.

The House also passed a resolution asking the federal government to take the issue of expatriate Pakistanis with the Middle East states, particularly Saudi Arabia.

Moved by Sahibzada Sanaullah of Pakistan people’s Party (PPP) and supported by the treasury and opposition members, the resolution reads, “A large number of expatriates from KP are working in Arab states and contribute to the economy but the coronavirus pandemic has badly affected jobs and livelihood. They are facing hardships in travelling as either the respective states have banned flights from Pakistan or imposed strict conditions for returning to the Gulf States. This august House recommends to the federal government to take effective steps for their return to these states.”

Malik Liaqat of the ruling PTI also supported the point and said Pakistanis working in Gulf States could not return because flights from Pakistan were not allowed.

He said that some expatriates even had to take flights from the Central Asian Republics, as they feared losing jobs.

The federal government should take up the issue with the respective states so that they could return to their jobs and earn livelihood, he added.

The privilege motion by Ikhtiar Wali of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) regarding Pesco chief’s behaviour was referred to the committee concerned.

In his motion, the mover complained that the consumers of his constituency were facing excessive power load shedding.

He said the people faced water shortage and other hardships. He said that he repeatedly tried to talk to the Pesco chief, but he did not reply to his calls, which prompted him to meet him at his office, but he refused to oblige. He said it breached his privilege and that of the entire House.

The treasury benches did not oppose the plea and the motion was referred to the committee.

The House unanimously adopted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Translation Regulatory Authority (amendment) Bill, 2021 and the KP Shops and Establishments (amendment) Bill, 2021 unanimously before the session was adjourned to meet on Friday at 10am.