Committees in parliamentary democracies are considered as the eyes and ears of the legislature. Their role is important in overseeing and monitoring various ministries of the government and much of the House’s business is handled through them.
However, in the case of the 10th Balochistan assembly, the role of standing committees has not remained effective, with most of the legislation being completed without their input.
The 10th provincial assembly of Balochistan has passed 60 government bills out of the proposed 64 during 35 sessions held between June 1, 2013, and November 12, 2016, focusing mainly on governance, parliamentary affairs, economy, education and human rights.
Of the 60 legislative proposals endorsed by the assembly, only 11 were forwarded to the relevant standing committees. Four of these bills dealt with governance issues, followed by education and human rights (2 each) and one each on health, economy and government employees.
According to Rule 128, “there shall be elected by the Assembly, as soon as may be, the 14 standing committees, for the duration of the Assembly, which shall deal with legislation relating to the Department or Departments of the Provincial Government.”
Rule 136 says that “the Assembly may, on a motion made by any Member, remit to the Standing Committee concerned any subject or matter which may be studied by that Standing Committee with a view to suggesting legislation.”
The previous (9th) assembly (2008-13), witnessed the passage of 39 bills while the current provincial assembly has so far passed 36 new bills and 24 bills dealing with amendments to existing laws.
The committees took a longer time to report on the 11 legislative proposals referred to them by the House. On average, each committee took 165 days (23.5 weeks) to pass a bill. In addition, one of the committees took the duration of 532 days to report on the Balochistan Child Protection Bill, 2015 while the shortest period between introduction and passage was of the Balochistan Witness Protection Bill, 2015 at 37 days.
