PESHAWAR:
Lawmakers on Friday raised the issue of poor internet connectivity for students in the remote areas of the province, noting that the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic means online courses are the only means of obtaining education for students now.
This was discussed when the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly resumed on Friday to debate the provincial budget for the financial year 2020-21.
MPAs raised questions about online courses in the province. They urged the provincial government to ensure that students have access to 3G and 4G networks, especially in the merged districts, so that they can access classes.
Moreover, they lamented that a girls’ school built in the Mohmand tribal district is yet to start functioning even though its structure was completed years ago.
During the discussion on the supplementary budget for the financial year 2019-20 worth Rs 55.42 billion. the question of a laptop scheme was raised.
Opposition lawmakers including Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Nighat Orakzai, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Inyatullah Khan, Mir Kalam Wazir, Shafiq Afridi, Baseerat Bi Khushdil Khan, Shagufta Malik and others said that a handsome amount was allocated to the information technology sector in the supplementary budget to provide laptops to teachers.
They noted that if teachers can get laptops, what about the students and called for greater transparency in the program.
The opposition benches also raised concerns about the plight of inmates in prisons across the province during the pandemic. They criticized the government for losing control over the bureaucracy.
Police reforms
On the instructions of Deputy Speaker Mahmood Khan for a senior police officer attending the assembly proceedings, an SP-level officer arrived at the assembly on Friday.
But the vice-chairman did not allow him to enter the session as he expressed his anger over the absence of senior officers.
He then directed a DIG level officer to attend the session.
Later, Peshawar CCPO Ali Gandapur visited the assembly lobby and marked his presence.
Lawmakers from across the aisle pointed to the need for police reforms. They also asked the CCPO to explain reports of extrajudicial killings and harassment of citizens at checkpoints set up across the province.
Members of the opposition expressed their reservations about the dormant status of the Public Safety Commission. With no checks and balances on the department, they argued, the police did whatever they wanted.
The Home Secretary was also accused of deliberately delaying the process of activating the commission. Opposition lawmakers also pointed to the incident in Zangi area where a motorcyclist was killed when he failed to stop at a checkpoint.
Discriminatory allocations
Shafiq Afridi of Khyber tribal district accused the government of distributing development funds based on the personal likes and dislikes of the finance and chief ministers. Moreover, he said that the legislature in the merged districts has been completely ignored.
Published in The Express Pakinomist, June 27th2020.
