Government presents 43 grants for demands

Opposition put forth four cut motions

LAHORE:

The provincial government has presented 43 grants for demands valuing around Rs2.23 trillion in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab.

In response, the members of the opposition benches put forth four cut motions out of which one related to health was taken up and one was rejected. The rest of the business was adjourned till the next session scheduled on June 24 (today). Moreover, the grant about health was passed with a majority of votes by the lower house.

Speaking on the cut motion submitted by the opposition, the PML-N lawmakers grilled the government for ruining the health sector. They lamented the treasury benches for curtailing the provision of funds to the health sector.

Rejecting the finance minister’s allegation that no hospital had been constructed since 1984, the PML-N’s Khawaja Salman Rafique said the finance minister’s statement has nothing to do with reality.

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“At that time not only the finance minister but also the chief minister was a part of the PMLN cadre,” he stated.

He also recounted several projects on health including hospitals built during the former governments’ tenure.

Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid rejected the PMLN’s stance that the PTI has done nothing to uplift the health sector.

In the general discussion on the annual budget for the year 2021-22, Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht shoved the blame of the economic destruction of the country onto the past regime for exploiting national resources.

“PTI government gave the necessary boost to the economy,” he claimed, adding that the past governments failed to utilize the potential of the export sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2021.