Ogra pushing country towards another crisis: PEW

Ogra decision to put a mln vehicles out of service, hurt 80m commuters

Daily life badly hurt by the decision taken to please LPG mafia

Sept 19

The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said Oil and Gas Regulator Authority (Ogra) is pushing country towards another severe crisis on the behest of powerful LPG mafia.

The hydrocarbon regulator has issued another illegal order asking provinces to remove all the CNG cylinders from the commercial vehicles disregarding the fact that they have been cleared by almost a dozen of other government departments, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that all the provinces, especially Punjab has started acting upon the unlawful and unclear directives of the Ogra without considering its outcome.

The controversial decision has left owners of Toyota Hiace, Suzuki pickups and taxis on the mercy of police and provincial transport authorities. CNG cylinders are being removed from hundreds of vehicles while hundreds others ferrying masses have already gone off the road indefinitely, he said.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that Ogra wants to destroy the transportation system in Pakistan as around one million vehicles operating commercially are using CNG fuel while 80 million use public transport fuelled by the alternative and clean energy.

Commercial vehicles consume a lot of gas which have forced them to install additional cylinders due to CNG loadshedding, he said adding that nowhere in the world there is any law limiting the number of CNG cylinders or specifying their location in vehicles.

However, Dr. Mughal said, the regulator has been playing negative role by violating its own rules for petty interests, it has failed to make any law or ensured amendment in the existing CNG laws in the last 21 years.

Supreme Court in 2009 directed massive conversion of commercial transport on CNG to cut down pollution in urban centres which also reduced oil import bill.

He called upon the CNG operators to defy the orders which are part of a conspiracy to deprive masses of economical fuel.

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HRCP’s concern over rising violence against women

HRCP’s concern over rising violence against women

Lahore, September 17, 2013: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has voiced alarm over increasing violence against women in Pakistan.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commission said: “HRCP has watched with grave concern the rising incidence of violence against women in Pakistan in recent days. Unfortunately, such incidents have always been commonplace in the country but now such reports are coming not from far-off places but from the main cities. Several cases of rape have been reported from the Punjab in the past few days, including that of the five-year old child.

To give a scale of the problem, in the city of Lahore alone, police had registered 113 cases of rape from January 1 to August 31 this year. Over the same period, police in the provincial capital of Punjab had registered 32 gang-rape cases.

The problem in hardly confined to Punjab. The plight of Kainat Soomro, a young rape victim in Sindh, and the excesses she has had to endure in her efforts to bring her tormentors to justice are there for all to see. Her ordeal represents how rape victims who have the courage to pursue their rapists are left to fend for themselves.

Earlier this week, Three women were shot dead by family members in the name of ‘honour’ in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

According to media monitoring by HRCP, until the end of July this year, at least 44 women had become targets of acid attacks, seven of whom had died as a result of their injuries. As many as 44 women had been set on fire; 11 had died in such attacks. As many as 451 women had been killed in Pakistanin the name of honour in 2013 by the end of July, compared to 918 killed in 2012.

Furthermore, HRCP is acutely concerned that risks have grown for all those who try and help the victims is any manner or try to expose the excesses. Human rights defenders who try to highlight excesses against women have become particularly vulnerable. In fact, an HRCP staff member had to be relocated just a fortnight earlier because his reporting of a woman’s beating by her relatives upset the family so that they threatened to kill him and started following him around.

Such targeting of a section of population solely on account of gender is utterly unacceptable and it is a matter of shame that the society at large has not felt compelled to raise a strong enough voice to putting an end to this travesty.

A combination of factors has contributed to this culture of violence against women and impunity for the perpetrators. One is the perpetual living in denial and a persistent refusal to acknowledge as a society that we have a problem of pervasive violence against women that needs to be addressed urgently. As women have struggled to gain greater say in decisions that affect their lives—from getting education to finding gainful employment and speaking their mind about marriage or choice of their spouse—they seem to have invited ever greater degree and incidence of violence. It is unfortunate that such violence has not been adequately condemned by prominent members of society and political leaders. The conditions that enable the perpetrators to avoid paying for their crime have also directly contributed to the growth of violence.

HRCP calls upon the authorities to include ending violence against women and impunity for the violators to its list of priorities in order to do justice by half the population of the country. HRCP hopes that these steps would include awareness raising and would not merely be confined to making changes in laws that then remain unenforced. The Commission also hopes that at least some meaningful steps would be taken to ensure a safe working environment for journalists and human rights defenders who train a spotlight on violations of women’s rights.”

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Press Release on Home Based Workers and Punjab Local Government Bill 2013

Press Release on Home Based Workers and Punjab Local Government Bill 2013

Press Release: 2 August 2013 Based on the Provincial Policy on Home Based Workers as approved by the Cabinet on 11 March 2013, The Punjab government assured involvement of district government and local bodies to implement the aims and objectives of the HBWs policy in a participatory and transparent manner.  It is further highlighted in the policy document that the implementing agencies for this policy shall work under the mandate of Government of the Punjab in close collaboration with the District Governments and local bodies guided by the Provincial plan of action.

The Constitution under the Article 140-A state  that  “Each Province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments.”

Referring to the Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Pakistan adopted by the CEDAW Committee at its fifty fourth session (11 February – 1 March 2013)….” Ensure that the local government system is restored, that the 33% reserved seats for women are retained and that women from religious minorities are represented in such a system….”

We on behalf of the 1275022 million (41.9%) Urban and 6,052057 million (70.5%) Rural home based workers of Punjab Home Net Pakistan along with other member organization demand:

·         Self-governed, Autonomous, elected and representative local governments as an important tier of the Provincial government ensuring community participation across all sectors.

·         The 33% reservation of seats for women at all tiers of local government

·         Elections to be held on party basis ensuring the democratic process and giving voice to the local level party representatives.

·         A quota for women in the reserved seats for farmers, workers and non-Muslims is provided; and HBWs to be included in this quota giving them representation at the Union council level.

·         All reserved seats are directly elected on the basis of joint electorate

·         Where there is provision for 33% representation of women in ancillary bodies/committees; HBWs representation should be ensured.

·         There should be no rural-urban divide in the application of local governments and union council with village council/peri urban settlement below it should be considered the primary tier while tehsil and district council should be upper tiers of local governments.

 Musalihati Anjumans, neighborhood councils, citizens’ community boards and other sub-structures at UC, tehsil and district level must be set-up through principles of parity, equality  ensuring representation form HBWs and labour Unions

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Punjab Govt assures just gas distribution, resolution of CNG sector problems

APCNGA demands 10-year CNG policy, help in LNG import to resolve crisis

Laws bring violated, misuse of natural gas should also be checked

Dated July 29^th

Government of Punjab has assured resolution of all the outstanding problems of the CNG industry including inequitable distribution of gas, misuse of natural gas and violation of laws by different departments.

The assurance came in a meeting held on the directives of Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif. The meeting was chaired by MNA Pervaiz Malik and participated by Minister for Energy Ch. Sher Ali, Secretary Energy, Chairman Planning and Development and other officials.

The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) was represented by Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, Abid Hayat, Captain (retd) Shuja, Fayaz Gillani, Anjum Niaz and Ashar Haleem.

During the meeting, the leaders of the CNG sector pointed towards elements involved in theft, misuse and unauthorised use of natural gas. They said that those who want to generate electricity through gas should have separate meters for it.

Ghiyas Paracha said that CNG sector is being destroyed due to unjust gas distribution, extended load shedding and violation of rules and regulations by different departments.

He said that gas sale agreements have openly been violated knowing that CNG industry has no alternative. He said that situation is horrible in Punjab where owners of 2200 CNG filling stations are at the brink and in urgent need of oxygen to resuscitate.

Paracha said that transport authorities have been harassing two million vehicle owners that include eight hundred thousand public transport vehicles on one pretext or other which should be stopped.

Demanding announcement of 10-year CNG policy, he said that government should include CNG operators in the process of LNG import or help us to import it to settle the energy crisis.

At the occasion, MNA Pervaiz Malik assured all out support to the representatives of the CNG sector saying that government will not allow anyone to hurt any business and that it would provide level playing field to all.+

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Punjab suffered for three years due to political distribution of gas

Caretaker Govt asked to ensure fair distribution of gas

Govt must choose between interests of masses, elite

Punjab suffered for three years due to political distribution of gas

7-day gas supply to Pubjab to consume only one pc of national gas output

APCNGA ready to help resolve energy crisis

Dated March 28

The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) on Thursday demanded 7-day gas supply to the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling stations all over Punjab as weather has returned to normal state reducing demand for the natural gas by domestic consumers.

Restoration of gas supply in Punjab would result in extra consumption of only 15 mmcfd gas per day while seven-day supply will result in additional consumption of around 60 mmcf only, said Chairman of the Supreme Council APCNGA Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha.

In a statement issued here today, he said that ending gas load shedding for CNG sector in Punjab would consume mere one per cent of the total national gas output while it will benefit millions, guarantee thousands of jobs, contain inflation and reduce pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

Caretaker government should revisit load shedding schedule to provide relief to masses who have braved unprecedented gas load shedding in Punjab all the way through last three years that took toll on daily life, economy and the foreign exchange reserves, he added.

Paracha said that in past policies were framed disregarding the interests of masses including 80 million commuters who use public transport.

He said that CNG sector is getting three-day gas supply in Punjab during which sixteen hours load shedding takes toll on the business and add to miseries of the masses. Officially, Punjab is getting gas for three days while it is equal to one-day supply due to the load shedding, he added.

CNG and urea sectors having no alternate for gas were being strangulated while some influential were provided extra gas despite ban and gas prices were frequently reduced for them, said Paracha.

Government must take steps to rescue the CNG sector and ensure smooth sailing, especially in Punjab otherwise this sector with Rs 400 billion investments will crumble due to unfavourable environment, he said.

The leader of the CNG sector said that Punjab remained exposed to unjust load shedding as compare to any other province for political reasons; now we hope that caretaker government will maintain proper and just equilibrium.

Time has come for the authorities to choose between interests of elite and masses.

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