PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly speaker on Friday directed traffic police to ban music in vehicles providing transport services to students of public and private educational institutions.
The Minister for culture and labour, Shaukat Yousafzai raised the issue on the floor of provincial assembly and said that educational institutions provide pick-up and drop-off facilities to students of public and private educational institutions.
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He said that some drivers play music while providing pick-up and drop-off facilities students. The MPA [Member Provincial Assembly] demanded that an operation be carried out to remove music players. He said that these vehicles also providing transport facilities to female students to schools and colleges.
In 2002, after the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) [an alliance of religious political parties] came to power, it had completely banned music in public transport. The government has launched operation and removed music players from public transport vehicles.
The Provincial Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Ali Yousafzai said that legislation is needed for a permanent solution for the issues. He said that law should propose heavy fines for violations and a ban on playing music while on duty, ie taking children to school and dropping them back home. In this regard, the Deputy Speaker directed the concerned institutions to ban music in the transport service of educational institutions.
Meanwhile, the Awami National Party (ANP) submitted an adjournment motion in KP assembly against the closure of Pak-Afghan trade, asking the government to open all crossing points for trade round the clock.
The motion, submitted by the ANP General Secretary and Parliamentary Leader Sardar Hussain Babak, demanded the federal government to restore Pak-Afghan trade immediately as the bilateral trade can strengthen the weak economies of both the countries. “This will further strengthen ties between the two countries and would provide employment and business opportunities to millions of people,” the resolution said.