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One-year term, Rs50,000 fine for punishing children physically - thenews.com.pk
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed “The Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill 2013” which says that any person who is guilty of inflicting corporal punishment on a child shall be punishable with imprisonment extending up to a maximum period of one year or fine up to Rs50,000 or both.
The bill provides for prohibition of corporal punishment of children in educational institutions. The bill was moved by Dr Atia Inayatullah of the PML-Q. The punishment shall be in addition to any punishment arising out of hurt or injury caused by such corporal punishment under other applicable laws.
The National Assembly also unanimously passed a bill which envisages amending the Representation of Public Representatives Act to prevent any candidate appearing in person before the returning officer for submission of nomination papers.
The Representation of People’s (Amendment) Bill 2013, moved by Zahid Hamid of the PML-N, sailed through without any hindrance from the government and was also supported by the MQM and PML-Q.
The is aimed at doing away with an amendment made in the Representation of People Act 1976 by former military dictator Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.Waseem Akhter from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Waqas Akram from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) endorsed the legislation.
Speaking on the occasion, Law Minister Farooq H Naek said that Musharraf made the amendment to prevent Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from contesting the elections.“It enables the candidates to avoid coming to returning officer if there is any threat or other reason,” Naek said. He said the legislation would help in countering the uncertain security situation due to which many political leaders face death threat as the candidates could now send their representatives to file the nomination papers instead of coming themselves.
“It will enable candidates to send representatives to file their nomination papers if they are facing any security threats,” he said. The bill says personal appearance of a candidate will not be mandatory. If any person desires to go to file his or her nomination papers, he can but if they do not desire, they could not be forced to appear in person at the time of filing the nomination papers.The house also unanimously “The Reproductive Healthcare and Rights Bill 2013”. The bill was tabled by Attiya Inayatullah.
The bill envisages promotion of reproductive healthcare rights and provides reproductive healthcare in accordance with the Constitution and international commitments made by the government under the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Government of Pakistan is also signatory to this convention.
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says that it seeks to give legal status to this right because in Pakistan on average, 80 women die everyday because of pregnancy-related complications.
It says that the Islamic injunctions enjoin that all of ordained rights, the principal right is the right to life. It further said that the bill seeks to promote the reproductive healthcare rights of men and women and to redress the complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, which are among the leading causes and consequences of mortality and morbidity for women of reproductive age and reduce maternal deaths.
The private members day on Tuesday was also a historic day in the parliamentary history of the country as the National Assembly completed 130 mandatory days of its fifth parliamentary years for the first time.
According to the 18th Amendment, the mandatory days of the National Assembly were increased from 120 to 130 days. However, the last session of the National Assembly, which was scheduled to be prorogued on Tuesday has been extended till Friday (March 15), a day prior to completion of its five-year tenure.