Senate committee defers (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2026

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2026) The Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday discussed and deferred the private member’s bill titled The Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The bill was originally moved by Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir during the Senate session held on May 8.

The committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Khalil Tahir Sandhu.

The proposed amendment in the bill sought to extend the privilege of a gratis official blue passport to the spouses and dependent children under 28 years of age of former members of Parliament. During the briefing, the committee was informed by the ministry secretariat, on behalf of the minister, that both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs opposes the amendment.

Officials noted that the entitlement of various categories of individuals to hold official passports was governed under the Passport Rules, 2021, as determined by the Federal government, and that the proposed changes were neither required nor supported.

During deliberations, Senator Kamran Murtaza observed that if there was an operational necessity to modify the criteria, the changes should be made through amendments to the rules rather than altering the principal legislation, noting that the Act served as the foundational legal framework.

<?php /*?> <?php */?>

Expressing strong reservations regarding the existing system, Senator Pervaiz Rashid argued that assigning different colours of passports to different categories of individuals constitutes discrimination.

The committee was further informed that a specific department within the United Nations explicitly defined diplomatic categories.

In light of these concerns, the committee suggested that passport colours should be uniform across categories, with distinctions made solely through the official titles printed on the document.

Emphasising the core objective of the legislative effort, Senator Abdul Qadir maintained that complete uniformity was the actual demand.

The committee ultimately decided to defer further consideration of the matter to its next meeting, granting a one-month timeframe to re-evaluate the bill.

The meeting was attended by Senators Pervaiz Rashid, Kamran Murtaza, Abdul Qadir, and senior officials from the relevant ministries.