The National Assembly has constituted a ten member committee to review cases pertaining to child abuse. It has been tasked to suggest measures that could prevent such cases and provide justice to the aggrieved families
ISLAMABAD,(Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2018) : The National Assembly has constituted a ten member committee to review cases pertaining to child abuse. It has been tasked to suggest measures that could prevent such cases and provide justice to the aggrieved families. A motion to this effect was moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad in the house today. The committee comprises of Talal Chaudhary, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Zahid Hamid, Shaista Pervez, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Romina Khurshid Alam, Azhra Fazal Pechuho, Ali Muhammad Advocate, Kishwar Zehra and Sahabzada Tariqullah.
The committee will present its report before the house within thirty days. Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet Secretary Javed Ikhlas said a child protection bill has been drafted in consultation with relevant stakeholders. He said the bill provides for formation of child protection board. Raja Javed Ikhlas said that several laws are in place to protect human rights particularly those relating to children and women.
He said the national commission for human rights takes suo moto notice on human rights violations and conduct regular hearings on the individual complaints. He said the commission also recently visited Kasur in connection with the horrendous incident that took place with a seven year old girl there. He said the commission is compiling its report into the incident and it will be submitted before the house. During question hour the National Assembly was informed today that no power load shedding is being carried out in areas where losses are below ten percent.
Minister of State for Power Abid Sher Ali told the house that scheduled load management is being carried out on feeders where losses are high to safeguard the national exchequer from power theft. This policy, he said, is being implemented irrespective of rural or urban areas. The Minister of State said the government is taking steps to counter power theft and reduce losses along with improvement in recovery. He said the role of provincial governments is very critical in this regard.
Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kamal Khan informed the house that Turkmenistan has started work for the construction of TAPI gas pipeline project. He said the project will help a great deal in meeting the energy requirements of the country. He said services of local people will be hired for protection of the pipeline project. Jam Kamal said a study is being carried out to identify the regions where gas pipelines have completed their age.
He said the study will be followed by replacement of old pipelines with new ones in order to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to the consumers. He said that oil and gas exploration activities have been expedited in Balochistan. He said about one hundred and five oil and gas discoveries were made over the last four years in different parts of the country. He said the country is currently producing four billion cubic feet of gas but the demand is much higher. This is the reason that we are importing 1200 million cubic feet of LNG to bridge the gap.
