Three bills introduced in National Assembly on private members day | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Three bills introduced in National Assembly on private members day

Three bills were introduced in the National Assembly Tuesday – ‘The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2012, The National Commission for Child Right Bill, 2012 and The Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Bill, 2012′ – on private members day. The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2012 was introduced by Riaz Fatiana, which was referred by the Speaker to concerned standing committee of the House for further deliberations.

According to objectives and reasons of the Bill, despite the fact that there are comprehensive laws to compensate the air crash victims’ families but all these laws become purposeless because the cases for payment of compensation remain pending before the courts for years and the widows and orphans continue to suffer because of inefficient manner of delivering justice. This situation is bringing social disaster in the society at large scale and at slow pace. This may be curtailed by way of prudent improvement in legislation.

The compensation amount to the air crash victim is fixed at Rs 5 million “no fault liability” which the air carrier must pay by all means and in all circumstances. By stipulating a fixed time period through the proposed amendment to “Carriage by Air Act, 2012,” for adjudication of cases of compensation arising out of fatal accidents of air crash, road accidents or industrial work place deaths, the purpose of enacting the law may be fulfilled in a benefiting manner for benefits of grater number of families of accident victims.

The proposed amendment will reduce negative social impact upon the bereaved families across the society where the distressed families lose their bread earners all of a sudden and are left to the mercy of society. Obviously, the amendment of law if adopted will do greatest good to the greatest number of victims’ families without any negatives. The other two bills ie, ‘The National Commission for Child Right Bill, 2012 and The Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Bill, 2012’were introduced by Noshin Saeed in the Lower House of the Parliament.

According to the objects and reasons of “The National Commission for Child Rights Bill, 2012,” children constitute almost 50 percent of the total population. The protection of Pakistani children from violence, abuse and exploitation in all its forms is one of the biggest challenges facing the nation. Children need to feel safe, wanted, loved and valued; they also need consistency and discipline.

The high rate of crime and violence plaguing the Pakistani society has had a devastating impact on children. (1) We have seen neglected and abandoned children from vulnerable families suffering from child labour, child trafficking, child molestation, child kidnappings, child pornography, gender-cide, domestic violence, violent behaviour, incitement to terrorism and related offences and being used for other illegal purposes, (2) jointing terrorist and extremist groups and organisations, (3) becoming a part of criminal gangs and under-world mafias, (4) falling into the hands of drug peddlers, beggar’s mafia, human traffickers and child molesters, proving to be not their own enemies but enemies of the whole civilised world. Therefore, immediate steps need to be taken to eradicate child endangerment in all its forms and manifestations and to ensure healthy growth and development and quality of life for our children.

There is need for a permanent organisation which may take necessary steps for the protection and welfare of children on emergency basis and providing an infrastructure for all time to come. Similarly, main reason of the “The Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Bill, 2012” is to curb the fake dental clinics in the country. Quackery and falsely pretending as a registered medical practitioners or registered dentists and then harming the health of poor people or such persons who are not having easy access to registered medical practitioners or registered dentists is an offence against humanity which is not only depriving the victims from’ their’ health but also becoming a major source for new diseases which require immediate attention ,of the concerned authorities with proper provisions for punishment of such criminal-minded persons.


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