The move angered the opposition lawmakers, who accused the government of being least bothered about making Nacta a powerful institution by ensuring full fledge funding to it, adding the federal Interior Minister himself had confessed on the floor of Senate that Rs 1.06 billion was not enough for the authority. Taking part in the discussion on the resolution to financially strengthen the Nacta, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the refusal by the government to allocate additional funds to the authority showed that it was not serious in fighting against extremism.
He said that the Nacta had no office building and was housed in the premises of the National Police Bureau, against 33 sanctioned posts of officers it had only five officers and against its requirement of 2 billion rupees it had been allocated only one billion.
Under the law, the Nacta board of governors headed by the Prime Minister should meet at least once in a quarter but it has not met even once during the last one year, adding it was most unfortunate that the government flatly denied providing funds to this important organisation which showed that it was only paying lip service to fighting militancy.
Senator Swati, who was the mover of the resolution, said that it was a pity to see the government opposing more funds for Nacta despite Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's displeasure over Rs 1.06 billion allocation. Chaudhry Nisar had said that Rs 1.06 billion, released for the Nacta, was too meager for an institution.
The PTI senator lamented that a straight 'NO' by the State Minister for Interior was quite shocking, as strengthening of the Nacta was a joint responsibility of all political parties as it was established to ensure the national security after the deadly attack on a military-run school in Peshawar.
"If you want to secure the national security, we must join hands to strengthen the Nacta, as together, we can root-out the menace of terrorism, which is only possible through more funding to the authority," he maintained. Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi regretted that it was shocking to see government refusing more money for the authority, adding that it is a fact that the organisations needs to be established from the scratch, for which the recently released Rs 1.06 billion is not sufficient at all.
However, Lieutenant General Abdul Qayum (Retd) came to the rescue of the beleaguered State Minister, saying that the government also wanted more money for Nacta, but it was not necessary to bring a resolution, as out of total Rs 2 billion demanded by the ministry, Rs 1.06 billion had already been released.
The State Minister for Interior Baleegur Rehman was left with no option but to endorse the opposition demand, who wanted more money for an institution which is functioning directly under his ministry. He said that he agrees with the opposition senators, but Rs 1.06 billion was enough and expressed the hope that the remaining amount will be released by the government if needed.
CNIC TO ABANDONED CHILDREN Senator Taj Haider of Pakistan People's party (PPP) drew the attention of the chair towards the incompetence of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for not issuing computerised national identity cards to abandoned children.
Speaking on a matter of public importance, he referred to an issue raised by Edhi Foundation - a non-profit social welfare organisation- that the abandoned children were facing great hardship as Nadra was not ready to issue CNICs to them. Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani said that a bill pertaining to parentage of abandoned children, which is pending with a standing committee for the last so many years, should be taken up, as the issue needs to be resolved once for all.
"It's the responsibility of the state to give parentage to abandoned children," he added.
BILLS The house passed four more resolutions unanimously, urging the government to take immediate steps to establish new residential sectors in Islamabad; to explore more markets for Pakistani goods abroad; the government should immediately ban the VIP protocol and to take effective measures to improve the performance of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).
BAN ON STUDENT UNIONS Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani constituted a committee of the House for discussion on revival of student unions, saying that constitution allows every citizen the right to form an association or union.
He ruled that bans on student unions were imposed by the martial law administrators in violation of Article 8 of the constitution, adding that the constitution allows every citizen the right to form an association or union. Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq, on a motion moved by Rubina Khalid, said that he fully supported the restoration of student unions in the education institutions. But, he said, that there was a need to further improve their system after bringing the necessary reforms and amendments to rules and laws. The house was adjourned till Tuesday.