ISLAMABAD, April 11: The government on Friday informed the National Assembly that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could not be dissolved without a constitutional amendment because it was protected under the 6th schedule part of the 17th Amendment.

Speaking on a call-attention notice of Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali, Mohammad Akram Ansari and Barjees Tahir of the PML-N, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Senator Farooq H. Naek said the government was determined to provide justice to NAB victims, whether politicians or government employees.

He urged members of the house to forward to his ministry names of all victimised people so that it could compile a list and provide them justice against what he called selective accountability.

The movers also sought relief for government employees under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

“Why will the government officials continue to fall victims to the NAB hounding and will they not get benefit from the NRO?” Sher Ali asked. The minister said that following Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s announcement of disbanding the NAB, his ministry was working on all aspects of the matter to find a comprehensive resolution to the issue.

“At present the government is working on a legislation to disband NAB and undo other anomalies,” he added.

When asked how many government employees had been victimised by the NAB over the past eight and a half years, the minister said: “It needs to get back to NAB for seeking complete data on the total number of affected employees.”

Mr Naek informed the house that cases of all such employees would have to be sifted from those who had become victims for refusing to fall in line with the ruler’s demands. He said that there were some genuine cases of corruption and irregularities reported against certain officials.

Another call-attention notice moved by five lawmakers from Fata was about losses of human lives and property in Kurram Agency and displacement of people because of military operation.

Minister for States and Frontier Regions Najmuddin Khan said that the Safron powers pertaining to Fata had been transferred to the NWFP governor in 2006 and he needed two days to seek information from the authorities concerned before responding to the motion.

The movers -- Noorul Haq Qadiri, Munir Khan Orakzai, Sajid Hussain Turi, Shaukatullah and Mohammad Kamran Khan -- called for immediate steps to disengage the warring factions which had adverse effects on the people who were facing food shortages and leaving their homes to save their lives.