The opposition benches in the Punjab Assembly on Thursday outburst on a call attention notice given by legislators Rana Sanaullah and Syed Ehsanullah Waqas on the killing of Qari Noor Muhammad, Imam, Jamia Noor-ul-Quran, in Sir Syed Town, Faisalabad recently.
The opposition, particularly Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) taking serious note of the killing levelled accusations on the government and police for involvement in this heinous crime. They also showed anger and anguish on the killings of innocent civilians in Wana and asked the government to immediately halt operation there.
Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja referring to the issue of killing of Qari Noor Muhammad asked the opposition benches to bring positive evidence to substantiate their point of view and help in reaching a positive conclusion. He denied any police or government involvement in the case. The minister said that the post-mortem report is yet to be received.
Earlier during question-answer session Parliamentary Secretary for P&D Department Zille-e-Huma, replying to a question pertaining to poverty in the province, denied the opposition assumption and said that there was decline in the poverty graph of the province.
She said that with 42 percent increase in Annual Development Plan (ADP) and its size at Rs 43.446 billion, the provincial government was working at its best for poverty alleviation in the province.
She told the House that a report of Bureau of Statistics would be made available soon, which will give true picture on the state of affairs regarding poverty alleviation in the province.
MPA Rana Aftab intervening on the point said that as per his information every day 12,500 people were falling under the level of poverty line in the province.
The parliamentary secretary, facing criticism of certain legislators from South Punjab on lesser development work in their region, said that 46 percent of ADP was being spent in the region.
Syed Ehsanullah Waqas severely lamented property mafia and said that their misdoing would erupt in a severe financial crisis.
On a question on provision of clean water supply in Cholistan, the parliamentary secretary denied certain objections on this by certain opposition legislators and said that 35 companies were involved in pre-qualification process for such supply. A total of 17 companies have been given work in this connection.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has shown its full satisfaction on this development venture, she added.
Meanwhile, on a point of order by MPA Malik Ahmed Khan that there were 35,000 private schools in the province, he asked for a thorough debate on private schools. MPA Rana Aftab said that a positive legislation was sought in this connection.
With the consent of the chair, provincial Education Minister Imran Masud said that he would give names for committee in this connection and later a thorough debate could be held in this regard.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Javed speaking on general discussion on health said that the provincial government besides establishing Burns Centre is in the process of completion of most modern six Ambulance Centres in Lahore.
He said with the region's first Waste Disposal Unit establishment, a Cardiology Centre in Multan and Burns Centre was established in Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur.
The minister added that upgradation of the status of nurses and their knowledge was also being under consideration and nurses on completion of their specialised training would be called Nursing Officers in Grade 17.
A number of adjournment motions were disposed of during the session. The annual report of Punjab Bait-ul-Maal was also presented during the session. Later, the chair adjourned the House.