Minister under fire in NA over pilots 'disclosure'.

Byline: Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD -- The National Assembly on the opening day of its first post-budget session on Wednesday witnessed a heated exchange of arguments between the opposition members and Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan over the issue of the 'dubious licences' of the Pakistani pilots after the latter was blamed for bringing humiliation to the country at the international level by making such a disclosure.

The minister, on the other hand, alleged that the governments of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had recruited 658 employees, including pilots and engineers, having fake academic degrees and dubious licences between 2008 and 2018.

The house also witnessed rumpus when the opposition members protested over the minister's remarks that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was 'among the top 10 most corrupt' rulers of the world who was even supplied food through PIA planes.

The legislators also debated the issues of minorities' rights with respect to ongoing campaign against them on social media and the construction of a Hindu temple in Islamabad and the frequent power outages in Karachi due to alleged high-handedness of the K-Electric.

Says licence verification was started last year and not after May 22 plane crash

Mazari assures house of action against those involved in social media campaign against minorities

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari assured the house that her ministry would take action against those involved in the social media campaign against the minorities.

She introduced the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2020, seeking 'to establish an effective system of protection, relief and rehabilitation of women, children, elders and any vulnerable person against domestic violence'.

The issue of the pilots' licences came under discussion when the house took up a calling attention notice of the PML-N members on 'the suspension of authorisation for the PIA by the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) and UK's authorities to operate in Europe for six months'.

Presenting the preliminary investigation report of the May 22 plane crash in Karachi on the floor of the assembly on June 24, the aviation minister had disclosed that there were 860 active pilots in the country, and 262 of them had appeared in exams through proxies. He had stated that almost 30 per cent of the pilots had fake or improper licenses and did not have flying experience either.

The...