As many as four bills were introduced on Tuesday in the National Assembly on private members' day for protection, welfare, health and safety of innocent children and to eliminate any discrimination on the basis of sex.
Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) introduced three bills including 'The Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2019,' 'The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019' and 'The Federal Newborn Screening Bill, 2019,' while Dr Nafisa Shah introduced one bill 'The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019' in the House. The speaker referred the bills to relevant National Assembly standing committees for further deliberations.
According to 'The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019,' the Section 329 of the Penal Code deals with the concealment of birth by secret disposal of dead body, so after the birth most of the children are left at birthplaces that later on become subject to slavery/human trafficking or lose their lives in human organ transplant.
For securing such innocent lives, this amendment bill seeks to ensure safety of innocent children by inserting a new Section 329A in the Pakistan Penal Code and entries relating to thereof in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
'The Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2019' seeks to ensure registration of a birth on the first instance to activate the criminal law in case of any further complication.
'The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019' seeks to eliminate any discrimination on the basis of sex and other characteristics and as such it is imperative to explicitly articulate and express that the state rejects these forms and types of discrimination.
Earlier, responding to a call attention notice, Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services Nausheen Hamid informed the House that a comprehensive plan has been prepared for the provision of better healthcare facilities in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
She said that under this plan, upgradation of basic health units will be carried out and these will operate around the clock. She said that it is the vision of the PTI government to strengthen primary healthcare system in order to reduce burden on hospitals.
The parliamentary secretary said that land has been acquired for establishment of a 200-bed hospital at Tarlai, Islamabad. This facility will be established with the assistance of Saudi government.
Responding to another calling attention notice, Parliamentary Secretary for Federal Education and Professional Training Wajiha Akram rejected the reports that the budget of Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been cut by 50 percent. She said that Rs 65 billion were earmarked for the HEC during the financial year 2018-19. She said, "We have disbursed 90 percent of the total amount while the remaining 10 percent will also be released soon."
She said that a committee has also been constituted to resolve funding issues of the HEC. She said that promotion of education is amongst the top priorities of the PTI government. She said, "We have launched a campaign to bring out-of-school children to the schools. We are also launching a literacy campaign to enhance literacy rate in the country."