Islamabad
\nThe Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, chaired by Senator Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan, held a meeting at the Old PIPS Hall, Parliament Lodges, Islamabad. The session was attended by Senators Farooq Hamid Naek, Fawzia Arshad, Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan, and Shahadat Awan. As well as special invitees, Senators Bilal Khan Mandokhail and Sardar Al Haj Muhammad Umer Gorgaij.
\nThe Committee took up key legislative and oversight matters concerning regulatory frameworks, national development initiatives, and institutional performance.
\nThe Committee commenced with consideration of The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduced by Senator Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan.
\nHe explained that the bill seeks to allocate one per cent (1%) of the Authority\u2019s annual fund to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
\nThese may include the establishment of rehabilitation centres for drug addicts, skill development and employment generation, poverty alleviation, and efforts to promote gender equality and empower women.
\nIt was also presented that the Authority shall ensure transparency and accountability in the use of CSR funds, per the rules and regulations to be formulated under the Act. After a thorough discussion, the committee decided to defer the bill.
\nThe committee directed the Cannabis Authority to submit its recommendations on the proposed amendments after placing them before its board.
\nThe Committee then took up Starred Question No. 27, raised by Senator Shahadat Awan in the Senate session held on July 25, concerning the criteria adopted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for enforcing roll-out obligations in the absence of a formal regulation or framework regarding right-of-way. After deliberation, the Committee decided to defer the matter and invite the Ministry of Information Technology to the next meeting for a comprehensive briefing on the policy framework currently in place.
\nA briefing was also given by the Managing Director of the National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) on the organisation\u2019s performance over the past three years.
\nThe Committee was apprised that NESPAK has successfully undertaken 4,822 projects both domestically and internationally.
\nOf these, 595 projects were completed internationally in 40 countries, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros Islands, Dominica, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, T\u00fcrkiye, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. NESPAK has also entered into joint ventures with renowned foreign and local firms on a project-to-project and long-term basis, which have proven beneficial to all stakeholders involved. The matter was deferred. The Committee directed a list of NESPAK\u2019s ongoing projects for review in the next session.
\nThe remaining agenda items were deferred due to the absence of members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, chaired by Senator Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan, held a meeting at the Old PIPS Hall, Parliament Lodges, Islamabad. The session was attended by Senators Farooq Hamid Naek, Fawzia Arshad, Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan, and Shahadat Awan. As well as special invitees, Senators Bilal Khan Mandokhail and Sardar Al Haj […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-495603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n