Law Minister Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed, agreeing with the opposition on the adjournment motion moved by Leader of the Opposition Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and others, said that the wordings of this motion were the same as that of the adjournment motion moved in the last sitting of the assembly on which 21 members from the opposition and the treasury had expressed their views.
The present adjournment motion is the same and representative of the desires of the house. It needs a meaningful discussion so that an opinion on the necessity of water reservoirs and Kalabagh dam could be ascertained.
The minister said that the situation had changed as the reports of the technical committee and that of the parliamentary committees had been made public and more facts and data had come to light.
He said, he would suggest that before a discussion commenced on the reservoirs and dams issue it would be pertinent to circulate copies of the report for the information of the members.
He said that the reports were voluminous and members might take time in going through its contents. "They should get sufficient time to read it before discussion is undertaken."
At this stage the speaker asked the law minister to tell how much time would be needed in getting hold of the copies of the reports and distributing it among the members. The law minister told the house that he would take at least one week to ten days in preparing copies of the reports and its distribution.
Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Irfanullah Khan Marwat in response to insistence from the opposition to initiate discussion on coming Monday said that the treasury was not shying away from discussion. On the contrary it wanted a meaningful and convincing discussion so that a clear message could go to the people on water reservoirs and dam issues.
He said that it would be pertinent to give proper time for going through the reports. An informed discussion would be beneficial, he added.
Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that the matter was of urgent nature and needed immediate discussion.
He said that discussion could be initiated and in the meanwhile arrangements to get hold of reports for circulation could be made.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that they were not dependent upon the contents of the various reports of water reservoirs, dam and downstream issues but were dependent upon the worries of the people - the tiller and would like to highlight his opinion.
Makhdoom Jamil uz Zaman said that fixing a date for discussion in the distant future did not appear reasonable.
The speaker after listening to the members announced the adjournment of the proceedings till January 19, 2006, Thursday for discussion.
Earlier, when the session began members of the MMA staged a walkout to register protest against asking foreign student studying at the local religious seminaries to leave Pakistan by December 3, 2005. The MMA members also protested against changes in the syllabus of Islamic studies of schools.
During question hours, Health Minister Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani informed the House that more than 100 doctors in the Civil Hospital Karachi and about 60 doctors in Kotri were surplus and had exerted pressure against their posting in rural areas where hospitals/dispensaries were vacant.
He said that people having domicile of rural areas should think about their moral responsibility to serve their own people.
To a question, the minister said that fresh appointments of doctors through Public Service Commission were underway and soon they would be available for posting in rural areas.