PA raps agri minister, secy for skipping session

LAHORE:

Proceedings of the Punjab Assembly on Friday were disrupted as members from both the treasury and opposition benches strongly protested the absence of the provincial agriculture minister and the department's secretary.

Opposition MPA Sheikh Imtiaz criticised the non-attendance, pointing out that each assembly session costs the public exchequer between Rs50 million and Rs60 million, yet the relevant minister and senior official were missing.

In a sarcastic remark, he recalled the agriculture minister's recent statement that "the sun has risen in Lahore for the first time," adding that it seemed both the minister and secretary had gone in search of the sun.

Treasury MPA Mian Amjad Ali Javed also took exception to the situation, questioning why the minister and secretary were absent despite a speaker's ruling that made it mandatory for departmental secretaries to attend assembly proceedings.

"Are we not taking this House seriously?" he asked.

The House also debated the issue of vacancies in government departments.

Mian Amjad Ali Javed highlighted that while a large number of officer-level posts were sanctioned, recruitment at lower tiers directly linked to public service delivery was being overlooked.

He claimed that around 36,000 posts were abolished during the caretaker government's tenure and said the engineering wing of the agriculture department was operating with 65% vacancies.

He called for the matter to be referred to a committee for detailed deliberation.