LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday passed three government bills including two amendments to the Local Government Act.
Moved by the Punjab Law & Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, the House opted the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2016, the Punjab Local Government (Sixth Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Forman Christian College Lahore (Amendment) Bill 2016.
The House referred the Punjab Land Records Authority Ordinance 2016, the Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 and the Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 to the relevant standing committees. All opposition’s amendments were set aside.
Earlier, the fifth sitting of the 25th session of the assembly was held here with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the chair.
Answering questions by lawmakers, Parliamentary Secretary for Education Roffian Julius said, the government was attaching high significance to education sector and it had made huge allocation in the provincial budget. He said they could not lock down private schools with missing facilities, adding they wanted to promote education at grass roots level.
However, he said managements of such schools had been warned.
The situation turned serious when the parliamentary secretary could not respond to a question by a JI lawmaker regarding appointment of Qadiani teachers in schools to teach children Arabic and Islamic subjects. Almost all opposition members staged walk out on same issue. A committee formed by the Chair comprising provincial ministers Khawaja Salman Rafiq, Sheikh Allaud Din got the opposition members back to the House. However, the parliamentary secretary assured the House to issue necessary instructions in this regard.
The House held general discussion on issues relating to agriculture sector. Lawmakers both from treasury and opposition benches put proposals. The Speaker kept pending a Privilege Motion of opposition member Raheela Anwar on assurance by the provincial Law Minister to settle the matter in two days.
An Adjourned Motion regarding lack of Anesthesia Specialists in government hospitals was remained unaddressed.
During today’s proceedings, two lawmakers pointed out quorum but the treasury managed the required strength.
On completion of days’s agenda the Speaker adjourned the House till next morning (Thursday).
