PESHAWAR:
Lawmakers on Friday addressed the issue of poor internet connectivity for students in remote areas of the province, noting that the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic means online classes are now the only way to get an education for students.
This was discussed when the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly resumed on Friday to debate the provincial budget for the financial year 2020-21.
MPAs have raised questions about online courses in the province. They urged the provincial government to ensure students have access to 3G and 4G networks, especially in merged districts, so that they can access classes.
Further, they lamented that a girls’ college built in 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 Rs55.42 billion, the issue of a laptop project was raised.
Opposition lawmakers including Nighat Orakzai of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Maulana Lutfur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Inyatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Mir Kalam Wazir, Shafiq Afridi, Baseerat Bibi, Khushdil Khan, Shagufta Malik and others said that a significant amount had been allocated for the information technology sector in the supplementary budget to provide laptops to teachers.
They noted that if teachers could have laptops, what about students and called for greater transparency in the curriculum.
The opposition benches also expressed concerns about the fate of inmates in the province’s prisons during the pandemic. They criticized the government for losing control of the bureaucracy.
Police reforms
On the instructions of Deputy Speaker Mahmood Khan for a senior police officer to attend the assembly proceedings, an SP-level officer arrived at the assembly on Friday.
However, the vice president did not allow him to enter the session as he expressed anger over the absence of senior officers.
He then asked a DIG officer to attend the session.
Later, Peshawar CCPO Ali Gandapur visited the assembly hall and marked his presence.
Lawmakers on the other side have stressed 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.
Opposition MPs expressed their reservations about the inactive status of the Public Safety Commission. With no checks and balances on the department, they claimed the police did what they wanted.
The Secretary of the Interior Ministry was also accused of deliberately delaying the process of activating the commission. Opposition MPs also highlighted the incident in the Zangi area in which a motorcyclist was killed when he failed to stop at a checkpoint.
Discriminatory allocations
Shafiq Afridi of Khyber tribal district accused the government of dividing development funds based on the personal likes and dislikes of finance ministers and chief ministers. Furthermore, he said the legislature of the merged districts had been completely ignored.
Published in The Express PK Press Club, June 27th2020.
