Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) organized a Youth Outreach Seminar with the delegation of Institute of Chartered Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP). The seminar was attended by 24 participants, including students and faculty members. Team Research PIPS hosted the event while Mr. Muhammad Rizwan Manzoor, Assistant Director Research, moderated the proceedings of the event. The event was started with the recitation of Holy Quran. After that, a round of introduction of the participants was conducted.

Mr. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka, Executive Director, Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) welcomed the participants on behalf of the President PIPS BoG / Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Honourable Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and PIPS Team. He gave an introduction about the working of PIPS as the exclusive research, legislative and professional development facility for Honorable Members of Parliament. He then explained the working and functions of Parliament. He also shed light on the Constitution of Pakistan which encompasses equality, social justice and human rights as core values for all the people. The Constitution has five broader principles that make the bedrock of the state structure, outlining Welfare, Islamic, Democratic and Federal with Independence of Judiciary. He added that the four main functions of Parliament include oversight, representation, law making and budget. He also elucidated the non-legislative tools of parliamentary oversight and the role of parliamentary committees in undertaking scrutiny of executive to ensure service delivery for the welfare of all citizens. Parliament is the citadel of people’s aspirations and defender of the Constitution that empowers the federal and provincial cabinets to serve in laid out responsibilities in the scheme of devolution of power where education, health, WASH all are now provincial subjects while the federal government fulfills the role of performing the economy matters, foreign policy, defense and security, communication and overall matters of national imperativeness.

Mr. Haider Abbas, Director General Finance, explained the budget process in the parliament. He delivered a very well organized and brief presentation on the said topic. His presentation mainly focused on the regulatory framework of PFM, what, why and how the budget process is, constitution on budget making process, National resource distribution, Budget cycle, and NFC Awards. There was an interactive session of Questions and Answers with the participants. The head of delegation, Mr. Muhammad Imran, thanked the team PIPS for organizing an informative seminar on Parliament and Budget making process on a very short notice. The participants were then gathered in the auditorium for the group photo, after which they were led to the visit of the Parliament House. The event was also attended by Ms. Fakiha Mehmood, Deputy Director Research, and Ms. Ayesha Tariq Khan, Assistant Director Research, where the latter recorded the minutes of the proceedings as well as actively assisted in organizing the activity.