Islamabad April 19 :The Senate Defence Committee which met on Monday under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed passed the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill, 2017 with one dissenting note of Senator Farhatullah Babar.

This bill had already been passed by the National Assembly. Senator Farhatullah Babar said rationale for making legislation applicable from as far back as over 17 years has been not been adequately explained.

The PAF (Amendment) Bill 2017 to amend the original 1953 Act with retrospective effect from January 01, 2000 was passed by the committee.

The defence committee was briefed on the plan of fencing the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which, in the initial phases, would include 700 kilometres out of the total 2,600km. The fencing would be done at the cost of Rs20 million per kilometre and it would include lighting as well as establishment of security posts in three years.

The committee was also briefed by the Ministry of Defence on defence budget and its utilisation under its various heads. Defence budget, which forms 17.5 percent of the total national budget, allocates 47 percent to the Army, 21percnet to the Air Force and a little over 10 percent to the Navy.

The committee also took up the issue of 21 employees of the Survey of Pakistan whose services were terminated and their cases are being reviewed and they will now be allowed to appear in another exam to be held on June 8, 2017 so as to ensure that all of them get equal opportunity to get justice.

The meeting also took up the case of residents of Loralai Cantonment who were evicted from their homes and in this regard, a special meeting of the Senate Defence Committee would be held during the next fortnight to resolve the issue at the earliest.

The committee was also briefed on the establishment of three new cantonments in Swat and the committee directed that the issue of residents of Khawazakhela be resolved amicably. The committee expressed concern that the Defence Committee of the Cabinet had ceased to exist since it was replaced by the National Security Committee and it underlined the need for a clear cut, comprehensive, well laid out national defence policy. In this regard Mushahid Hussain directed that a special meeting of the Senate Defence Committee should be held to get input from the Ministry of Defence as well as its own members for the formulation of a national defence policy for Pakistan.

The meeting welcomed the induction of Senator Salim Mandviwala as a new member in place of Senator Farooq Naek.