Punjab Irrigation Minister Muhammad Mohsin Leghari has announced a plan to introduce a policy under which land adjoining canals will be given to farmers on lease.
While answering queries during the question answer session of Punjab Assembly, the minister said the farmers having land located along the canals would be preferred for the lease.
However, the farmers getting the land on lease will only be allowed to grow trees on it.
The provincial minister admitted that canal water was being pilfered. However, he vowed that now the time had changed and strict action would be taken against those found involved in stealing the water.
During the question answer session, a treasury lawmaker, Chaudhry Masood Ahmed accused the minister of protecting corrupt elements. An altercation took place when Leghari started answering a question in English. This irked the lawmaker who asked whether the minister wanted to prove that he was more educated that the rest of the assembly members.
33% farm households suffer loss in earnings
PPP’s parliamentary leader Syed Hassan complained of dilapidated condition of the department’s rest houses in Punjab. The provincial minister admitted that the government did not have sufficient resources for maintaining the buildings. However, he made clear that his priority was to manage the canals rather than the rest houses.
Later, the opposition and treasury members unanimously passed a resolution for making part of the curriculum the Quaid-e-Azam’s first speech in the legislative assembly of Pakistan. The resolution was moved by PML-N’s former minority affairs minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu.
Panel of Chairpersons member Mian Shafi presided over the proceedings.
After completing the agenda items, the House was prorogued for an indefinite period.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 11th, 2020.
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