KARACHI - The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed five resolutions tabled by opposition parties’ lawmakers from the house on the private members’ day while an adjournment motion to discuss merger of Summit Bank with Sindh Bank was rejected by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro.
With Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in the chair, the first resolution regarding 120 days maternity leave for women workforce was adopted unanimously by the house. It was tabled by PML-N lawmaker Sorath Thebo. She said that the period was a difficult phase for the women specially working women, therefore in order to provide relief to them, a 120-day leave be granted to women during days of pregnancy.
She further said that the women should also be given complete allowances and salary during this period.
Another resolution was tabled by MQM lawmaker Engineer Sabir Hussain Kaimkhani regarding tendency of establishing Industries/Factories be encouraged.
Speaking on it, he said that due to inefficient industrial policies, the industries are being shutdown and plazas are constructed at their places. “A ban should be implemented on constructing plazas at the location of industrial units,” he said adding that the United States had also given bailout packages to their industrial sector during period of crisis and the Pakistani government should also take care of sick and closed industrial units.
PTI lawmaker Samar Ali Khan said that a ban should be implemented on the using industrial plots for commercial purpose. PML-F lawmaker Nand Kumar said industrial units should be setup in order to eliminate unemployment from the country.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro supported the resolution and said that revival of sick industrial units is need of the hour and industrial plots should not be used for other purposes.
In another resolution, MQM lawmaker Rana Ansar, called for ensuring provision of mandatory gates at all Railway crossings for the safety and security of the people.
She said that the incidents occur due to non-presence of gates at the railway crossing, claiming lives of several people.
Nisar Khuhro said that the federal government is spending billions on metro project but unable to install electronic gates at the railway crossing. However, MQM lawmaker Syed Sardar Ahmed opposed the idea saying that there are not so much skilled people to operate electronic gates instead manual gates be placed immediately.
MQM lawmaker Muhammad Saleem Rajput tabled the resolution regarding unannounced load shedding of electricity and gas in Sukkur and was adopted unanimously from the house.
The lawmakers said that despite tall claims from PML-N federal government, the electricity load shedding in Sindh province continued to be unabated, causing miseries to the masses.
MQM lawmaker Muhammad Dilawar Qureshi’s resolution regarding various trade Zones be established in the surroundings of the cities of Sindh and all Major Markets be shifted in these zones was also adopted by the house unanimously.
The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro opposed an adjournment motion from PTI lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman regarding merger of Summit Bank with Sindh Bank and said that the move was aimed at benefitting the Summit Bank which is indebt of billions of rupees.
The minister, however, said that the motion could not be taken up as the issue was in consultations and no decision was taken in this regard till now.
Zaman said that they would not sit silently on this merger as it was aimed at incurring losses to the Sindh Bank that is run from the provincial government exchequer. The speaker rejected the motion.
The House was later adjourned for Wednesday.
