KARACHI (Dunya News) - The Sindh Assembly has completed its second parliamentary year, yet more than 500 questions submitted by lawmakers remain unanswered by various government departments.
During the second parliamentary year, the House functioned for 56 days, while 25 days were observed as holidays and on 19 days no sessions were held. Notably, throughout the parliamentary year, the Chief Minister did not respond to any questions related to departments under his authority.
Despite entering its second year, elections for four standing committees of the Sindh Assembly could not be conducted.
Moreover, even after elections were held, four seats in the provincial assembly remain vacant.
Over the first two parliamentary years combined, the assembly passed 48 government bills. However, legislative productivity has been accompanied by concerns over oversight and accountability.
In the second parliamentary year alone, members of the assembly submitted 1,096 questions concerning various departments.
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Government departments have so far failed to provide responses to more than 500 of those questions.
During the first two years, queries related to prisons, minerals, and services and general administration departments did not even appear on the assembly’s agenda.
The assembly currently has more than 25 parliamentary secretaries, yet nearly half of them did not answer a single question related to their respective departments on the floor of the House.
The number of members who remained largely silent during proceedings also remained significant, similar to previous trends.
Members submitted 141 adjournment motions on various public issues, but only four were debated. Out of a total of 393 resolutions submitted over the two-year period, 35 were passed while 305 were withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly held approximately 49 meetings during the second parliamentary year. However, no PAC meetings were conducted in the final two months of the parliamentary year due to differences and disagreements.