As many as 108 government bills were introduced in the Sindh assembly during the four year period, an official report said. -File Photo

KARACHI: In a total of 236 actual sittings of the Sindh Assembly, in the last four parliamentary years from April 5, 2008 to April 4, 2012, the house could not pass a single private bill among the total 31 submitted to the assembly, says an official report.

According to the assembly report, nine of the total 31 private bills could not be granted leave, five referred to the committee, three were under process to obtain government consent, eight not consented by the government, three were withdrawn, two returned to concerned MPAs, while only one bill was granted leave for introduction.

Private bills are first submitted to the assembly then await approval from the law department and other concerned departments. Subsequently its financial implications are assessed.

Hence all these matters consume considerable time, said Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro in response to the non-passage of any private bill by the house.

Sharing the report with media at the Sindh Assembly building on Saturday, Khuhro recounted that the assembly took various landmark initiatives including establishment of complaint cell for providing easy access to people, formation of outbox junction for TV channels for live coverage of assembly proceedings, security enhancement measures and organizing Commonwealth Asia Regional Conference in Sindh.

According to the report, as many as 108 government bills were introduced during the four year period, of them 76 were passed, four awaiting consent, six referred to committees, seven withdrawn and 15 are under consideration.