The Pakistan Reut-e-Hilal Bill 2021, tabled in the National Assembly a fortnight ago, will provide a legal cover to the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and streamline its functioning as per set-pattern.
According to a Religious Ministry official, the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee was established in 1974 through a resolution and it was functioning under the same umbrella till date. There was a dire need to provide the committee a legal cover and formulate a proper mechanism to remove all seasonal controversies for its smooth functioning, he told APP on Thursday.
He said the Religious Ministry needed the seal of approval from the provincial assemblies for the bill as per the Law Division’s advice, because after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the subject was devolved to the provinces. Religious Minister Noorul Haq Qadri made special requests to all the chief ministers to get the resolutions passed from their respective assemblies, the official added.
He said after getting a green signal from the provincial assemblies, to the Religious Ministry drafted the bill in consultation with all the provincial governments. After being vetted by the Law Division and the Cabinet Committee for Legislative Cases, the Federal Cabinet gave its consent to present the bill in the National Assembly.
He said the bill, which was with the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, would reshape the whole business of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, he hoped.
