A Senate Standing Committee on the Cabinet Secretariat met at Parliament House in Islamabad on 26 September 2025 to review monsoon relief operations and related institutional responses following widespread floods in Sindh and Punjab.
The meeting, presided over by Senator Rana Mehmood ul Hassan, began with recitation from the Holy Quran and was attended by Senators Saadia Abbasi, Ata-ur-Rehman, Aimal Wali Khan, Mohammad Abdul Qadir, Dr. Afnan ullah Khan and Shahadat Awan along with the Secretary Establishment Division, Special Secretary Cabinet Division, the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and other senior officials.
The Member of the National Disaster Management Authority provided a detailed brief on the recent floods, reporting around 1,000 casualties and approximately 1,000 injuries, while noting these figures may rise as rescue and relief work continues and floodwaters recede. Damage assessments presented to the committee recorded 12,559 houses damaged and 6,509 livestock lost, with about 3 million people rescued or evacuated between 26 June and 19 September 2025. The NDMA warned that forecasts indicating a possible 22 percent increase in rainfall next year will require timely interventions to strengthen preparedness.
Members were informed that the Prime Minister has increased ex-gratia assistance for the next of kin of those deceased in monsoon 2025 from Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million, a decision that carries a projected financial impact of Rs 2,033.7 million. The committee acknowledged the scale of relief operations and appreciated NDMA’s efforts while stressing the need for continued coordination and resource allocation for monsoon relief and recovery.
The Director General of the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development briefed the committee on institutional performance, noting that PARD, established in 1957, has expanded its training capacity and delivered training to more than 48,000 officers across grades between 2021 and 2025. Committee members questioned the specific emphasis on the term “Rural” in the academy’s name and recommended consideration of renaming it to focus broadly on development, along with better utilization of its infrastructure to meet contemporary challenges.
The committee considered Starred Question No. 27 raised by Senator Shahadat Awan regarding the criteria used by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to enforce roll-out obligations by licensees in the absence of a formal Right of Way framework. Members decided that the mover’s specific queries would be forwarded to PTA and the Ministry of IT for formal responses.
A private member bill titled The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduced by Senator Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan, was deferred after the cannabis authority indicated the proposed changes needed consideration by its Board of Governors, which had not yet convened. Additional agenda items were also deferred due to absence of movers.
The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the chair, and the committee underlined the need for continued oversight and coordinated action to address ongoing recovery needs and strengthen preparedness for future monsoon seasons.
