Senate rejects bills to amend SBP, BIS Acts

Islamabad: The Upper House of the Parliament on Monday rejected two Bills moved by the members of the House on bringing amendments to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act, 1956 [The State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2022] and Benazir Income Support (SBP) Act, 2010 [The Benazir Income Support (Amendment) Bill, 2022] citing nature of the motions repugnant to the constitution and technical reasons.

Senator Zeeshan Khan Zada of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on behalf of Senator Faisal Saleem presented the Bill to amend the SBP Act, 1956 before the House. He said: “The Bill was proposed to shift SBP to Islamabad which was currently in Karachi and therefore, all banks had their head offices in Karachi”.

The Senator mentioned that if it was shifted to the federal capital then it could help resolve issues of banking and other monetary matters faced by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

The motion was opposed by the House and was rejected after voting.

Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) moved the Bill to amend Benazir Income Support (BIS) Act, 2010. She maintained that the BIS program was conceived for supporting the poor which was not conforming to the spiking up inflation. “If inflation is at 40% then whatever they are giving to the people it is not beneficial for the poor masses,” she added.

After the opposition of the House to her motion, Senator Zehri requested the Chairman to refer the motion to the committee and the committee members should be allowed to discuss on the matter. The Senator also sought response from the Law Ministry on rejecting the motion.

Minister of State for Law, Shahadat Awan opposed the Bill pertaining to SBP Act, 1956. Moreover, he also opposed the Bill on BIS Act amendment that was proposed to link the funding with inflation.

The minister stated that it was not advisable as it would impact the budget of the federal government, adding that, “The intentions of the Senator are good but it is not advisable as per article 44 as it was linked to the finances of the government and budget that will add more to its financial budget”.

The Bill was granted ascent to be presented before the house whereas the Chairman Senate put the motion before the house twice but remained indecisive and ordered for voting. Some 17 members voted in favor and 22 opposed the motion and was rejected.

Senator Saleem Mandviwalla of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) suggested the mover of the motion on BIS Act amendment Bill to discuss it with the ministry and a revised Bill would be tabled in the House as her intention was noble and good.

Earlier, Senator, Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur of PTI moved the Bill further to amend the National Commission on the Rights of Child Act, 2017 [The National Commission on the Rights of Child (Amendment) Bill, 2023] that was opposed by the Minister of State for Law on technical grounds as it was a devolved subject after devolution of powers.

“The intention is good but the matter is devolved and it will be an intrusion in the provincial purview. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has already enacted law on the Child Rights,” he added.

The agenda item was referred to the committee for further discussion.

Senator Hidayat Ullah on behalf of Senators Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah, Zeeshan Khan Zada and Dilawar Khan, moved the Bill further to amend the Civil Servants Act, 1973 [The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2023].

He said, “Brain drain was underway in the country, youth were jobless and bureaucrats were creating such projects under autonomous bodies that only enabled them eligible to apply for those jobs,” adding that we want to stop this and promote fresh blood and youth who are educated and have discontent among them.

The motion was carried unanimously and referred to the Committee of the House for further discussion.