Annual National Parliamentary Conference on Harmonization of Rules of Procedure.

March 30, 2016 CONFERENCES, NATIONAL

Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) organized a two-days National Conference on Harmonization of Rules of Procedure on March 30-31, 2016. The Conference was attended by 20 participants including Honorable Members of Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure; Committee Secretaries from National Assembly, Senate and all Provincial and Legislative Assemblies; and Officials working on Rules of Procedure. Beginning with the recitation of Holy Quran, the Conference opened up with remarks on behalf of Acting Executive Director PIPS, Mr Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka by Director Training Ms. Samer Awais. On Day one, Special Secretary National Assembly, Mr. Qamar Sohail Lodhi, illuminated the participants with the Best Practices of Rules of Procedure in the National Assembly of Pakistan. In order to learn from the experiences of some other countries a session was conducted by Mr. Kashif Mahmood Tariq, Deputy Director Legislation PIPS, on “A Comparative Study of Rules of Procedure – Pakistan, India, United Kingdom and Germany.”

In morning session of the day two on March 31, 2016, Honorable Member of National Assembly, Mr. S. A. Iqbal Qadri, deliberated on the best practices of Rules of Procedure in the National Assembly of Pakistan followed by Ms. Rabea Anwar, Joint Secretary Senate, who highlighted the best practices of Senate of Pakistan. Mr. Atta Ullah Khan, Special Secretary/Director IT Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Abdul Karim Ghorezai, Private Secretary Provincial Assembly of Baluchistan, reflected the Practices and Challenges regarding Rules of Procedure of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, respectively. Mr. Khalid Mahmood, Deputy Secretary Legislation Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Chaudhry Basharat Hussain, Secretary Provincial Assembly of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and Mr. Abdullah Khan, Secretary Provincial Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan, shared the Best Practices of Rules of Procedure in their respective Houses. Mr. Muhammad Aslam Waseem, Deputy Solicitor Ministry of Law, GoP, covered the topic from the perspective of Sindh Assembly. Q & A session offered the participants the opportunity to openly debate the issue enabling them to learn from each other’s experience. Vote of thanks was presented by Director Training Ms Samer Awais for all participants as well as the support rendered by PIPS longstanding partner, Konrad Adeanauer Stiftung (KAS).

On the direction of the Chairman Senate/President PIPS Board of Governors, the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), has implemented a comprehensive set of measures aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline, operational efficiency, and responsible utilization of public resources, on the same lines as notified and adopted by the Senate and National Assembly Secretariats.

Under the new measures, the Institute has adopted a four-day working week (Monday to Thursday), while introducing a hybrid working model whereby 50% of staff will perform duties from the office and 50% will work remotely on a rotational basis. Employees working from home will remain fully accessible through digital communication platforms and may be required to report to the office on short notice, ensuring uninterrupted institutional functioning.

Significant steps have also been taken to promote energy conservation. These include a target of achieving up to 70% reduction in energy consumption through minimizing unnecessary use of electricity and ensuring that official meetings, trainings, and events are scheduled during daylight hours. Foreign tours are banned and international meetings are being held virtually.

In the transport section, PIPS has introduced strict measures to curtail expenditure and 70% official vehicles have been grounded as part of this initiative.

As part of broader austerity efforts, 20% reduction has been imposed on the non-ERE budget for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The officers drawing a monthly salary of PKR 300,000 or more, shall surrendered two days salary or 5% to 30% salary on gross as per Federal Government decision.

The Institute has also discontinued all non-essential procurements with immediate effect. Official functions such as dinners and receptions will not be hosted, except in the case of visiting foreign delegations, and even then, strictly in accordance with austerity protocols.

These measures have been implemented with immediate effect and will remain in force until further orders.

Under the guidance of President PIPS Board of Governors, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, PIPS remains fully committed to maintaining its core functions of parliamentary support, capacity building, and research while contributing proactively to national austerity and sustainability goals.

Annual National Parliamentary Conference on Harmonization of Rules of Procedure.

@ Your Service