Senate. 260Th Session 8-3-2017
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3311(17) Senate (S) PC-09 by Shoaib.M 1 (260th Session) SENATE SECRETARIAT ————— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the Senate to be held on Thursday, the 9th March, 2017 DEFERRED QUESTIONS (Questions Nos. 68, 69, 70, 71, 81-A, 84, 87, 88 and 88-A deferred on 16th February, 2017, 259th Session) ( Def.) *Question No. 68. Senator Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi: (Notice received on 02-12-2016 at 10:00 a.m.) Will the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that the Capital Development Authority has made payment in September, 2005 to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) for provision of gas to Sector I-14, Islamabad; (b) whether it is also a fact that SNGPL has failed to provide natural gas to the residents of the said Sector so far, if so, the reasons thereof; and (c) the steps being taken by the Government to provide natural gas to the residents of the said Sector? Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: (a) No. SNGPL has reported that CDA had made payment in April 2006. (b) Yes. M/s SNGPL has informed that supply main of 10" dia was required to be laid for supply of gas to this sector, which could not be laid due to non-provision of clear line route by CDA. 2 (c) 10" dia. X 8.80 Kms supply main has been laid for sector I-16 which is passing through sector I-14. The company has further indicated that the work for laying of distribution network in I-14 shall commence shortly. (Def.) *Question No. 69. Senator Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi: (Notice received on 23-12-2016 at 01:00 p.m.) Will the Minister for Human Rights be pleased to state: (a) the procedure laid down by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) for receiving complaints from individuals and taking suo moto actions in case of violation of human rights; (b) the number of complaints received from individuals and suo moto notices taken by the said Commission during the last three years and the action taken thereon separately; and (c) the steps being taken by the Government to check and control human rights violations and ensure protection of human rights in the country? Mr. Kamran Michael: (a) The NCHR deals with the complaints from individuals and by taking suo moto notice in accordance with Section 3 of the National Commission for Human Rights (Complaints) Rules, 2015 (Annexure-I). (b) The Commission started functioning in mid December 2015. From December 2015 to 10th January, 2017, the Commission received 518 complaints of various nature (Annexure-II). During the period from December 2015 to 10th January, 2017, the Commission took suo moto notices of 89 petitions out of which 71 processed, 7 in hearing, 2 resolved and 8 have been consigned. (c) Government is committed to ensure Human Rights of its citizens as envisaged under the Constitution as well as international commitments by adopting all possible measures to ensure protection and promotion of such rights. However, despite various positive efforts at Federal and Provincial level, violations of Human Rights do take place. In this context, responsibility of the Governments both at Federal and Provincial levels has increased manifold. In this regard, the Federal Government has taken various initiatives in order to ensure protection and promotion of Human Rights, with special focus on Rights of Women, Children, Minorities and other vulnerable segments of the society. These include: 3 I. Action Plan for Human Rights, approved by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 13th February, 2016, is being implemented. The Plan ensures following major areas of intervention to further improve Human Rights situation in the country: i. Policy, Legal Reforms & Access to Justice; ii. Implementing key Human Rights Priorities: Rights of women, children, minorities and vulnerable population; iii. Cross cutting interventions for protection of Human Rights: education, sensitization, awareness raising, research and communication; iv. International/UN Treaty Implementation; v. Establishment and strengthening of National Human Rights Institutions; vi. Implementation and Monitoring of Action Plan. II. An amount of Rs. 750.00 million has been approved to put in place institutional mechanisms for realizing the rights proposed in the Action Plan which includes an amount of Rs. 400.00 million for human rights education, sensitization, awareness raising, research and communication, Rs. 250.0 million for establishment of National Institute of Human Rights for capacity building, training, research and development and Rs. 100.0 million Endowment Fund for Free Legal Aid for Poor Victims of Human Rights Violations. III. A Project titled, Helpline “1099” for Legal Advice to the victims of Human Rights Violations has been launched. The Helpline (1099) provides referral services to address grievances of the victims. Public Notices have been issued in newspapers to create awareness among the masses in this regard. Since 10th February, 2016 total calls received are 36341, out of which 4696 cases were eligible which were taken up with the relevant departments for redressal. IV. National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has been established with a broad mandate and powers to take suo-moto actions. The Ministry of Human Rights has also notified the NCHR Complaint Rules, 2015 which comprehensively elaborate the 4 procedure regarding evaluating and disposing of complaints of Human Rights Violations. V. Similarly, autonomous National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) and National Commission on Minorities (NCM) are also working to check and control Human Rights violations of women and minorities respectively and to effectively protect/promote their rights. VI. Ministry of Human Rights has launched Public Awareness Campaign on Human Rights Education and Sensitization under Action Plan for Human Rights, 2016 through Seminars as well as advertisements in print and electronic media. The campaign’s target is general public, civil society, researchers, academia, students, government functionaries and different segments of society. The campaign focuses Right to Life besides promotion of Human Rights’ values for creating a culture of tolerance and respect. VII. Ministry of Human Rights has formulated a draft National Policy Framework for promotion and protection of human rights after completing the consultative process at federal and provincial level. The draft has been circulated among Ministries/ Divisions for final consultation/input before submission to Federal Cabinet for its approval. The task for formulation of provincial strategies on human rights has also been started in collaboration with provincial governments. VIII. A National Task Force (NTF) to monitor implementation of Action Plan for Human Rights has been notified under the chair of Federal Minister for Human Rights comprising parliamentarians (one each from National Assembly & Senate of Pakistan), relevant Federal Ministries and Provincial Human Rights Departments. Provincial Task Forces (PTF) in Punjab, KP and Sindh have also been established. The Provincial Task Force in Balochistan is in process. IX. District Human Rights Committees are also being constituted to check and control Human Rights violations of women and minorities respectively and to effectively protect/promote their rights. X. The human rights situation in Jails has also been monitored through Jail Monitoring visits. So far more than 100 prisoners with petty offences have been released and re-unified with their families along- with HR Sensitization among Prison’s staff. 5 Annex-I 6 7 8 Annex-II 9 (Def.) *Question No. 70. Senator Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi: (Notice received on 23-12-2016 at 01:00 p.m.) Will the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources be pleased to state the names of countries from which Pakistan is purchasing Gas at present? Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: Inter State Gas System (Pvt) Limited (ISGSL) The Following projects are under ISGSL mandate:— ¦ Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India Gas Pipeline Project. ¦ Iran Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project. With regard to above projects, Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements (GSPA’s) were signed with Turkmenistan and Iran respectively. However these projects are currently under implementation stage therefore at present there is no flow of gas under these projects. Pakistan State Oil Limited (PSO) PSO is importing LNG through Government to Government Agreements and tendering/ Competitive bidding. Under Government to Government arrangement, the LNG is being imported from Qatar while under competitive bidding, the suppliers arrange LNG from various sources, viz. ¦ Nigeria. ¦ United Kingdom. ¦ Spain. ¦ Equatorial Guinea. ¦ Australia. ¦ Trinidad. ¦ Netherlands. 10 (Def.) *Question No. 71. Senator Saleem H. Mandviwalla: (Notice received on 02-01-2017 at 12:30 p.m.) Will the Minister for Housing and Works be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that the quota allocated to Constitutional bodies for allotment of plots in Government Housing Schemes has been reduced, if so, the reasons thereof; and (b) whether letters have been issued to the employees of the said bodies for allotment of plots in Bara Kahu and F-14-15 Housing Schemes, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons thereof? Mr. Akram Khan Durrani: (a) The quota reserved for the employees of constitutional bodies has not reduced. In fact, it has been enhanced from 02% to 03% for future schemes by the Executive Committee of the Housing Foundation in its 133rd meeting held on 17-06-2015. (b) Provisional Offer Letter (POL) has been issued to employees of Constitutional Bodies in Bara Kahu housing scheme, the detail is at Annex-A. Whereas only consent letter has been issued, in housing scheme at sector F-14/15 to the eligible members of Constitutional Bodies, the detail is at Annex-B. (Annexures have been placed on the Table of the House as well as Library.) (Def.) *Question No.