LAHORE: Rejecting all the motions moved by members of the opposition for cut, the Punjab Assembly (PA) on Saturday passed a supplementary budget worth over Rs617 billion.
The assembly also approved all demands for grants amid a hue and cry raised by the opposition, consisting of members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) belonging to the Sunni Ittehad Council.
Earlier, the assembly’s session, convened to pass the budget, started late with Deputy Speaker Zaheer Iqbal Channar in the chair.
Speaking on the occasion, opposition leader Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar said that it was the PTI government that had launched the Kisan Card project. “It is unfortunate that the picture of former Prime Minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has been pasted on the card, which is simply not acceptable to us,” he said, adding, “Maryam Nawaz-led Punjab government has failed to deliver on all fronts in the first 15 days. The provincial government is a complete flop.”
Opposition member Hassan Zaka said why we should validate unconstitutional rule of former care taker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s rule.
Punjab cabinet approves Rs4480.7bn budget
If we talk about May 9, who was the one who attacked the Supreme Court, Hassan Zaka asked. He also questioned that please tell who prevented the landing of the Chief of Army Staff’s plane.
He suggested that in Punjab, education and health should be a priority of the government.
Provincial Minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu, on the other hand, said that the PML-N had reached an agreement with the PPP on the Senate elections. He said there were no irregularities in the budget passed today. The minister regretted that the six Islamabad High Court judges did not utter a word when ex-judge Shaukat Siddiqui had revealed he was receiving phone calls from intelligence agencies.
The provincial finance minister, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, refuted the opposition’s allegations, explaining how the supplementary budget of Rs208 billion was utilized, stating that it was used for wheat procurement. The finance minister mentioned that the opposition finds it difficult to read the budget.
A journalist asked if Rs12 crore were used for the Prime Minister’s security equipment to which finance minister said it was totally wrong.
Earlier, Punjab Finance Minister Mujtab Shaja Ur Rehman tabled the budget.
The Finance Minister said that the supplementary budget for 2022-23 is very unusual. During this period, there have been changes in governments. A detailed review of the budgets during the tenures of Hamza Shehbaz and Pervez Elahi has been provided.
Under Pervez Elahi’s government, a report on expenditures states that Rs119 billion were spent on the construction of bridges and roads. No supplementary budget was spent during Hamza Shehbaz’s tenure.
He also said wheat worth Rs208 billion has been purchased. A loan of Rs600 billion has been taken, out of which Rs25 billion will be repaid.
During Mohsin Naqvi’s tenure, Rs55 billion were spent on roads and bridges, which were visible.
Forty demands were considered for the supplementary budget. Five demands were presented by the opposition regarding cuts in expenditures, including in the departments of irrigation, police, education, C&W, and communication.
Finance Minister Rehman also gave good news to assembly employees as it was announced one month’s basic salary as honorarium will be provided to them. The deputy speaker later adjourned the hearing for an indefinite time period.
Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bokhari has stated the Punjab government under the leadership of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz has launched 30 major development and social support projects in the province.
Speaking to journalists at Punjab assembly on Punjab government’s 30 day performance, Information Minister Uzma Bokhari said work on a cancer and heart treatment hospital has begun, millions of food hampers have been delivered to the most deserving under the Ramazan Negheban programme and 3000 affordable houses will be constructed in all provincial districts under the Apna Ghar Scheme.
Minister Bokhari added an effective garbage collection and cleanliness drive is underway throughout the province, health services and medicine will be provided at patients doorsteps, the safe city project will be setup in 18 more districts, a tree plantation green Punjab initiative has been launched, 1000 electric bikes and 19000 regular bikes will be provided to students at low costs.
She said, “A new mechanism will be implemented throughout the province to control prices of essential items, online property transfer facility for overseas Pakistanis will be introduced.”
Uzma further said, a 30 billion farmer’s package Kisan Card has been approved, solar panels at low costs will be provided to 50,000 deserving people, an Easter package has also been prepared for the Christian community.
She added a state of the art agricultural unit will be setup and the government is working hard to bring down inflation by at least three percent.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
Comments
Comments are closed.