Punjab Assembly: Amendment proposed to local government law

PA introduces new bill to alter boundaries of tehsils and union councils.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2012 was referred on Friday to the standing committee concerned after being introduced in the House.

The bill proposes amendments to the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2001. If approved, it will give the government the authority to change the boundaries of union and tehsil councils and towns. The bill will also notify the establishment of several new tehsils.

The original draft proposes the addition of a sub-section 5(a) in Section 179-A the 2001 bill.

According to the sub-section “the government may, subject to the previous publication and by notification in the official Gazette, change the boundaries of a union, tehsil or town and such change shall take effect from the date of the notification”.

Opposition members called the proposed amendments ‘a way to gain political mileage’ in the next elections. PPP deputy parliamentary leader Shaukat Basra said that the establishment of new tehsils and changes in union council boundaries were the government’s way of making some of the voters happy.

Education Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja Rehman answered questions about the Higher Education Department.

The session – that lasted about 90 minutes – was adjourned till 3pm on Monday after PPP’s Faiza Malik pointed out the quorum.

‘Probe the scandal in light of ISI chief’s evidence’

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, while talking to reporters before the session started, said, “The Memogate commission can probe the scandal in the light of evidence submitted by Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who spent a considerable time investigating the matter in Pakistan and abroad.”

Repeating what Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said a day earlier, he said that the Punjab government will provide Mansoor Ijaz ‘foolproof’ security if he decides to come to Pakistan.

Asked why Sharif does not attend the assembly sessions, the law minister said that the chief minister would come to the House “soon” to present a report on the PIC tragedy. Being the chief minister, Sharif has so many engagements that it is not possible for him to attend most assembly sessions, Sanaullah said.  Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Gilani, who attends National Assembly sessions, Sanaullah said that he had the ‘free time’ to first say things on the floor and then retract the statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2012.