Punjab Assembly okays Rs1.84tr demands for grant

Punjab Assembly passes 41 grants

LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly passed 41 grants for demands of Rs1.84 trillion on Thursday, rejecting cut motions presented by the opposition.

The opposition lawmakers, presenting cut motions on funds sought for the education, health and police departments, grilled the treasury benches over curtailing funds for various institutions.

Speaking on a cut motion related to the health department, PML-N’s former health minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said the government had curtailed the budget for the sector. He said no funds were allocated in the budget for the schemes launched by the previous government. Two years have passed but funds required for a hospital have not been released. He said the government had promised Rs100 million for a children's hospital project that would cost Rs370 million but no amount had been given.

Speaking on a cut motion, PPP’s parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza said the law and order situation worsened when people were deprived of their basic rights. Giving benefit to others by usurping the rights of some people created hate, MPA Murtaza maintained. The budget allocated for police should have been spent on education and health. The world is eliminating jails but here they are being built, he lamented.

The lawmakers remarked that a minister could not do corruption without the consent of the secretary of his ministry, asking how many secretaries had been brought to the book.

During his fiery speech, the treasury members created pandemonium.

Responding to Slaman Rafique, Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid came down hard on the the past PML-N government. She asked what the PML-N had accomplished during its tenure.

She said the PTI-led government had completed recruitment on 28,000 vacant posts and conducted 450,000 coronavirud tests in Punjab. Provincial Education Minister Murad Ras termed PML-N’s Danish School scheme a source minting money in the name of education.

He the government would establish 100 new primary schools in Lahore, while and the PML-N had opened the last primary school in 2015.  The minister said the government had upgraded 1,227 schools across the province.

Law Minister Raja Basharat defended the performance of police. He said the House proceedings had started at 2pm but police officials had been performing duties since 12pm in hot weather. Before lashing out at the department, the opposition should think for a while about those who were fighting against Covid-19 on the front line, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2020.