ISLAMABAD - A PPP-P’s female MNA Shahida Rehmani yesterday shocked her colleagues in the National Assembly when she said a rodent had bitten her while sleeping in a room in the Parliament Lodges.

PPP-P’s lawmaker, on a point of order, complained about presence of a large number of big size rodents in the Parliament Lodges. “Bedrooms of parliamentarians are unsafe due to large number of rodents in the Parliament Lodges,” said MNA Shahida Rehmani, on a point of order.

She was supported by her colleagues present in the house, saying that there were large number of rats moving around the rooms.

Rehmani said that she was bitten by a rat in her bedroom in the Parliament Lodges. “I had to get the anti-bite injection, after that I am here to attend proceedings of the house,” she said, demanding administration of the Parliament Lodges to take notice of this scary situation.

On it, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri issued directions to director of Capital Development Authority in this regard. A suggestion was floated by one of her colleagues to recruit cats to kill rodents inside Parliament Lodges.

This is not the first time that MPs have complained about presence of rats in the Parliament. In previous government era, the sound system during the Public Accounts Committee meeting got dysfunctional as rodents broke the wire.

The lawmakers from both sides living in the Parliament Lodges were seen disturbed and concerned about presence of these rodents in their living areas. The point of order created smiles and worries on the faces of the MNAs present in the House.

On another point of order, opposition and government allied parties expressed reservations for not being included in the parliamentary delegations. Saira Bano from Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) expressed concerns for not mentioning the allied partners in the list of parliamentary delegations. “Parliamentary delegations normally go outside the country but allies are never invited,” she said.

MNA Shahida Akhtar Ali, on point of order, expressed the same concerns for not including the name of opposition in the parliamentary delegation for their representation. Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri assured to take notice of this matter.

Earlier, the house was informed today that a program of 313 billion rupees has been prepared to address the issue of malnutrition amongst the children. Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services, Nousheen Hamid, during the Question Hour, said that the Central Development Working Party has already approved the program. She said the program has been prepared on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the target is to eliminate stunting by 2030.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan told the House that efforts are being made to introduce new seeds to increase the agriculture productivity including that of cotton.

He said we gave a special relief package of fifty billion rupees to the agriculture sector after the break out of Covid-19. He said subsidies were given to the farmers on fertilizers, pesticides and seed. He said as a result of these measures, the country witnessed a record wheat production of 27.5 million metric ton.

The Minister of State said it is the first time that the investment is being made to address the problems of the farmers. He said a subsidy of ten billion rupees will be given to the farmers on different agriculture inputs for the Kharif season.