Punjab Assembly. PHOTO: APP
LAHORE: Annoyed at the absence of government officials from the Provincial Assembly proceedings on Tuesday, Acting Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani directed the assembly secretary to write a letter to the chief minister and the chief secretary asking them to ensure the availability of secretaries concerned for the questions hour at the House.
“Inform the chief minister that if the relevant secretary doesn’t come to the assembly for the questions hour, I will refuse to chair the session,” he observed.
The matter came up when Gorchani found out about the absence of secretaries of the Social Welfare, Baitul Mal, Women Development, Family Planning and Development Departments during the question hour on Tuesday. He expressed annoyance when he was told that parliamentary secretaries concerned were also not present in the House to take up the questions about their departments.
In particular, the speaker highlighted the absence of Adviser to the Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique and Parliamentary Health Secretary Khwaja Imran Nazir from the session. “They may kindly be asked to grace the House with their presence,” he said.
Like Monday’s session, the distribution of gunny bags remained a concern for the lawmakers on Tuesday as well.
Leader of the Opposition Mahmoodur Rasheed said there was a shortage of gunny bags in Okara and Kasur districts. He said middlemen were minting millions by virtue of their control over the distribution of gunny bags.
Rasheed demanded that a parliamentary committee should be formed where lawmakers could register their complaints about the distribution of gunny bags.
Opposition member Sardar Shahabuddin staged a token walk out from the House over irregularities in the distribution process. He was later persuaded by Rana Arshad to return to the House.
Mines and Minerals Minister Sher Ali Khan denied that there had been any irregularities in the distribution process. He said distribution of gunny bags was under way on merit. A cabinet committee was overseeing the process, he added.
On Tuesday, the House passed four resolutions in public interests. Discussion on three others was postponed.
PTI lawmaker Shoaib Siddiqi’s resolution seeking effective steps by the federal government to stop smuggling of agricultural tools, jewellery, auto spare parts and clothing items from India was passed with an amendment. Amir Sultan Cheema’s resolution seeking a ban on use of steroids for body building and crackdown on manufactures and marketers of the drugs; Shumaila Aslam’s resolution seeking inclusion of a chapter in curriculum of public education institutes to condemn child abuse; and Raheela Khadim Hussain’s resolution condemning burning of a girl in Abottabad on directives of a jirga were also passed by the House.
The session was adjourned till Wednesday (today) morning.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2016.
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