Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control on Friday expressed serious reservations over the absence of the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control secretary after it had to postpone discussion on the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The committee met at the Parliament House with Senator A Rehman Malik in the chair.

The legislators instructed the Ministry of Interior to ensure that the bill was presented at the next meeting.

Malik said that Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was part of the National Action Plan (NAP). “It is the need of the hour to pass and implement this bill as soon as possible. Shockingly, the ministry’s attitude towards the legislation seems to be that of indifference,” he said.

He asked the State Minister Balighur Rehman to investigate why ministry officials were ignorant and negligent about the bill. Senator Shahi Syed and Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi advised the chairman to postpone discussion on the bill. The chairman and other members endorsed the advice.

The committee discussed in detail bills presented by Senator Azam Swati and Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and referred them to the Ministry of Law and Interior.

The chief secretaries and law secretaries of all provinces were directed to attend the next meeting of the committee with suggestions about the Police Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The committee also discussed health sector issues. Malik said the country lacked a national health security policy. “This has created an alarming situation across the country. There is no drug related laws in the country. Even a five-year-old can buy any medicine without a prescription. This is against international laws and has put the lives of people in danger,” the chairman said.

He said there should be a well-formulated national health policy. “Drugs, organ transplantation and blood transfusion should be covered under the policy. It is alarming to note that fake pills, capsules, tablets, and syrups of all types are available in the market. We need strict laws to deal with culprits who are playing with people’s lives,” he said.

“We can control many diseases if there is a system of safe blood transfusion,” Malik said, adding that drug addicts were selling their blood. He said that he was concerned about the delay in detection of spurious medicines due to legal hindrances.

The committee instructed the Ministry of Law and Health to submit a comprehensive report and suggestions to stop such practices in the health sector. The meeting was attended by senators Shahi Syed, Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, Muhammad Javed Abbasi and Azam Swati.