Karachi - The members of the provincial assembly on Tuesday fully utilized the private members day, as 15 private members bills were taken up by the provincial assembly and eight were passed. Other than the one where the mover was absent, the remaining were sent to the concerned standing committees for consideration. The house also unanimously passed four resolutions in the Tuesday’s sitting.

PML-F lawmaker Nand Kumar’s bill Sindh Hindus Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2018; Sindh Regularization of Commercial Transport Companies Bill, 2018 by PPP lawmaker Khairun Nisa Mughal; Sindh Women Protection Authority Bill, 2018 by MQM-P lawmaker Rana Ansar; Sindh Prohibition on Manufacture, Promotion, Distribution, Import, Sale and Consumption of Gutka and Mainpuri (Amendment) Bill, 2018 by MQM-P defector and PSP lawmaker Sumeta Afzal and Sindh Fair Representation of Women Bill, 2018 jointly tabled by Saira Shahliani of PPP and Rana Ansar from MQM-P were introduced in the house and sent to the concerned standing committees.

The House also passed eight bills. Five of the bills from the treasury lawmakers pertained to establishment of universities in the province, including Capital University Bill and The University of Art and Culture, Jamshoro Bill from PPP lawmaker Ghazala Sial; Emaan Institute of Management and Sciences at Karachi Bill from Sharmila Farouqi; Aror University of Art, Architecture, Design and Heritages Sukkur Bill from MPA Syed Awais Qadir Shah and City University Bill from Kulsoom Akhtar Chandio.

Three bills of PTI lawmaker Sema Zia were also adopted by the house. Her first bill was Sindh Maternity Benefits Bill aimed at giving four-month holiday to working women, including one month holiday before delivery and three-month holiday after the pregnancy period. The other two bills -- Sindh Regulation of Aesthetic and Laser Treatment Bill, 2018 and Sindh Street Children Shelter Home Bill -- were also approved by the house.

The house passed a resolution moved by PML-F lawmaker Nusrat Bano Sehar Abbasi, demanding that authorities take notice of violation of the Citizenship Act by Nadra as the authority issued CNICs to illegal immigrants living in the country.

Speaking on the resolution, the mover said that Burmese and Afghans were given citizenship and more than 0.5 million citizenship cards were given in violation of the Citizenship Act. “The cards suspended earlier were restored after a temporary ban after protests and Afghans who were earlier identified as foreigners have been now given citizenship,” she alleged. She said that not only they have become citizens but they have also been elected chairmen of union councils and some of the constituencies.

She cited examples of Taliban commander Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and Afghan woman Sharbat Gula who had Pakistani national identity cards.

Saira Shahliani’s resolution pertaining to a mega plan for at least one selected public sector university in order to include it in the list of top 50 universities of the world in next five years was also approved unanimously by the house. The mover said that the education standard in the province should be improved and a university should be picked for making it one of the top 50 universities of the world.

Another resolution from MQM-P lawmaker Syed Qamar Abbas Rizvi for action against vehicles with tinted glasses was also passed by the house.

The PTI MPA tabled a resolution against the excessive loadshedding in Karachi which was unanimously adopted by the house. Zaman said it seems the PPP is the business partner of the KE and therefore unable to end loadshedding in the city.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that when power company was privatized, the PPP was sitting on opposition benches but the PTI leader Imran Khan was supporting the then dictator Pervez Musharraf.

“The PPP had staged sit-ins and protests against loadshedding by KE last year and raised the issue with the federal government at the CCI and with the prime minister,” he said, adding the PTI had supported privatization in the past and is now shedding crocodile tears.

Meanwhile, parliamentary leader of MQM-P Syed Sardar Ahmed diverted the attention of the speaker towards non-issuance of salaries of lawmakers in accordance with the bill passed by the house which raised their salaries. “The provincial government has the budget to raise their salaries and I had written a letter to the chief minister for implementing the bill passed from the house,” he said.  Nisar Khuhro said that implementation of the bill would begin from May 2018.