PA session tables pro-poor, business friendly budget in new house

PA session tables pro-poor, business friendly budget in new house

LAHORE, Jun 14 (APP): Punjab Assembly session to table the annual budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 was held with Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervazi Elahi in the chair at the newly-constructed building of the provincial legislature here on Monday.

The session, which started with recitation of the Holy Quran and Naat-e-Rasool-e-Maqbool Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), marked the maiden session at the newly-constructed assembly chamber. The budget session started 2 hours 32 minutes behind its scheduled time of 2 p.m with the single agenda item of provincial budget 2021-22 on the list.

The Secretary Punjab Assembly, on orders of the chair, announced panel of chairman for the session comprising four members including MPAs Mian Shafi Muhammad, Sahibzada Wasim Khan Baddozai, Abdullah Warraich and Zakia Shahnawaz Khan.

Leader of the House Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar was present in the house during the budget session. Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz also attended the budget session. Provincial Ministers Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, Abdul Aleem Khan, Raja Basharat, Dr. Murad Raas and others were present on the occasion.

One conspicuous aspect of the newly-built assembly hall is the etching of Hadith about the finality of Prophethood, ‘I am the seal of prophets. There is no prophet after me’ on the speaker’s wall while Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi asked the Naat-Khawan to recite Muzaffar Warsi’s Naat ‘La Nabiya Baadi’ (There is no prophet after me).

Soon after the Naat-e-Rasool-e-Maqbool (PBUH), the press gallery committee staged a symbolic walk-out of the assembly proceeding in solidarity with a television journalist and a cameraman who was manhandled by a policeman outside Chief Minister Punjab Secretariat. The journalists called off their boycott on the intervention of Special Assistant to the Chief Minister (SACM) Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan who assured them of strict action against the erring policeman.

Speaker PA Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi welcomed the members to the new building, adding that he was the brain behind the construction of a new assembly building during his stint as Chief Minister Punjab in the year 2006. Pervaiz Elahi said the building, which was to complete in two years at the cost of 2.37 billion, took 15 years as the previous government of former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif did not issue funds for the project. He said it has been completed during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar.

Later, the Chair invited Finance Minister Punjab Hashim Jawan Bakht to present the annual budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 but as soon as the Finance Minister Punjab took the podium to give his budget speech the opposition benches, who had been listening to the speaker in utmost respect and neutrality, suddenly sprang to life and the house resounded with deafening noise of sloganeering and shouting.

The opposition members had carried with them whistles, banners and placards denouncing the budget document and government policies.

Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht unveiled rupees 2.653 trillion development-focused budget including an Annual Development Program (ADP) worth 560 billion rupees with pro-public initiative of 10 percent raise in salaries and pension of the public servants besides 25 percent special allowance in the salaries for the grade 1-19 government servants who have not received any special allowance in the past.

The 2653 billion rupees budget is 18 percent higher than the previous year and it has taken unprecedented incentives for the poor, government servants and the businessman. The minimum wages for the laborers has been increased to 20000 rupees per month from 17500 rupees previously. Similarly, the ADP has been increased by 66 percent as declared by the provincial Finance Minister.

In another first, the PTI government has allocated hefty 189 billion rupees development budget for the South Punjab which is 34 percent of the total provincial development budget as announced by the minister in the deafening noise by the opposition lawmakers who had moved closer to the Minister’s dais – almost encircling him.

Only Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and Law Minister Raja Basharat separated the Finance Minister.

Hashim Jawan Bakht told the house that 370 billion rupees have been earmarked for the health sector with 96 billion rupees for the various development programs, adding that 80 billion rupees have been set aside for the Health Insurance program for the 110 million population of Punjab.

The Minister also announced 51 billion rupees increase in the annual budget of 442 billion rupees for the education sector in the province as compared with the ongoing fiscal year.

The Minister informed the house that three billion rupees have been earmarked for the peri-urban housing schemes to provide homes to the poor, adding that projects like Ravi Urban City and Lahore Central Business District will lay the foundation of a developed metropolis in the years to come.

He announced a tax relief of 50 billion rupees for the businesses with extraordinary concessions for the construction industry in the next fiscal year.

He also disclosed government’s plans to provide relief to the new sectors including the Call centers business where the government has decided to cut down the tax from 19.5 percent to 16 percent during the fiscal year 2021-22.

The Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht, on the advice, of the chair introduced Finance Bill and Supplementary budget in the house.

On the completion of agenda of the day, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi adjourned the session till June 17 (Thursday) at 2 p.m. when the general debate on budget will continue till 21st June (Monday) with break on Sunday.

 

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