The present government has broken all records of speedy legislation as it has managed to get 54 bills passed from the National Assembly (NA) in just four days, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

Out of these 54 bills, 35 are related to the establishment of universities, which have made Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain feel helpless.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Federal Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain expressed his reservations over the hasty passage of bills related to universities.

He said that first of all approval should be sought from the concerned university before okaying the charter. “Because when the charter is approved, these universities get a legal cover. Besides that they can also award degrees,” he said, and added, “But when the bill gets passed, there is a tendency to build universities without the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) nod.”

The result was, he added, when degrees awarded by these universities were sent to the HEC for attestation, the latter refused to ratify them. “Consequently, both students and their parents get disturbed. Because parents have to toil really hard to bear the expenses of their kids. “I have been told that there are 10,000 such students whose degrees have not been verified so far,” the minister added.

He said that the HEC had set the condition that these universities should first get the NOC. “I know that students don’t like me for that. But later, these students, too, will face difficulty in the attestation of their degrees,” Hussain said.

He said that although these bills were being passed by the NA, but Senate had refused to toe the lower House’s line on the grounds that first approvals should be sought from the concerned departments.

The minister said there was no gainsaying the fact that universities were necessary. “But at the same time, quality education should be imparted at educational institutions,” he asserted.

He regretted that the passage of 54 bills in four days had become a laughing stock as everybody was talking about it.

Two important bills namely the National Logistics Corporation Bill, 2023 and the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority Bill, 2023 were introduced in the National Assembly on Thursday.

The bills were introduced by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, respectively.

Meanwhile, three reports of various standing committees, including that of Information and Broadcasting and Inter-Provincial Coordination, were also presented in the House.

Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, on behalf of Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Chairperson Javaria Zafar Aheer, presented the reports on the Bill to amend the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, 2021 [The Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals (Amendment) Bill, 2023] and on the Bill to amend Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002] [The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2023] in the House.

Similarly, Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination Chairman Nawab Sher presented the report on the Bill to provide for the establishment, administration and management of the affairs of the Gun and Country Club in Islamabad [The Gun and Country Club Bill, 2023.

Reporter: Usman Khan