LAHORE: The second sitting of the Punjab Assembly was held here on Monday with panel of chairman Mian Muhammad Shafi in the chair.

Law Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja moved two bills in the house and both were passed with a majority vote. These were the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils (Amendment) Bill and the Code of Civil Procedure (Punjab Amendment) bill 2020.

Earlier during the Question Hour, Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid criticised the former PML-N government for what she said not promoting medical professionals in the health departments during its 10-year rule.

She asked the former health minister sitting in the house why no doctor was promoted from BPS-19 to BPS-20 during his party’s 10-year rule.

Now, she said, promotions of doctors were being made every fortnight.

PA passes two bills on second sitting

Responding to a question, she said the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) has so far interviewed 2,000 male and female doctors while 10,000 medics would be selected for duties during the coronavirus pandemic.

To another question, she informed the house that recruitments for the Children Hospital were being done through the PPSC.

PTI lawmaker Ahmed Shah Khagha suggested during general discussion on the forthcoming budget and the Covid-19 pandemic that laws should be introduced for controlling lavish expenses on wedding ceremonies and also fixing business hours for commercial activities from Fajr to Maghrib prayers to save electricity and also improve social lives of traders.

MPA from Jhang Maulana Ameer Muavia Azam lamented that the government would repeatedly refer to the state of Madina but continues to act against its teachings.

He said the government could not table interest-free budget since it came into power and challenged it to present the next budget (2020-21) interest free as an evidence for its true liking for the state of Madina.

He also objected to the Rs12,000 relief fund for three months being given to the poor to mitigate the losses they faced during the lockdown and feared that it would turn the beneficiaries into beggars. He called for finding some other ways to help the affected people and making them stand on their feet instead of looking forward to the government for financial help.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2020