Questions about motives have become louder, particularly because of government pressure for the project to be approved by both houses.
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a committee to examine the Telecommunications Reorganization (Amendment) Bill.
The committee will be headed by Minister of Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, while members include Senator Sherry Rehman, Minister of IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema, Attorney General Mansoor Awan and experts related to the field of law and IT.
The bill, which aims to amend a 1996 law and was presented by IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, was approved by the National Assembly on June 11 by a majority. Later, the project was postponed by the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications, where it was referred on June 15.
Questions about the motivations behind the bill have grown louder, particularly because of the government’s efforts to get it approved by both houses of Parliament.
After PTI senators objected and demanded that the bill be sent to the relevant standing committee, Senator Palwasha Khan, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecommunications, called a meeting the next day, June 16.
The committee, which was constituted to address concerns raised over some of its provisions, will examine the Right of Way (ROW) framework in Sections 2(qb), 2(ma), 27A and 27B of the Telecommunications Reorganization Amendment Bill.
It will examine the bill creating telecommunications equipment and deliberate on operations related to the field of private property and housing societies before submitting its recommendations.
The Prime Minister asked the committee to examine the bill on priority and submit its proposals.
Earlier, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications clarified that the proposed ROW Bill 2026 will not allow forcible acquisition of private land or unauthorized entry into private properties of citizens.
According to the ministry, landowners would retain the full right to raise objections, negotiate terms and demand appropriate compensation before work is carried out on their land. With the contribution of the APP
