LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday approved over Rs636.65 billion in budget demands for grant for the fiscal year 2025-26, covering crucial sectors like police, health, and education.

Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja lauded the budget as “people-friendly” and dismissed all objections from the opposition.

The session, presided over by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, began with a three-hour and 33-minute delay.

The opposition continued their vocal protests, prompting the Speaker to humorously inquire if they were chanting against “Modi” or “Yahoodi” (Jews), which drew laughter from the treasury benches.

Summing up the five-day budget debate, the minister emphasised that it was a “progressive and balanced budget” aligning with public aspirations. He highlighted a significant increase in the development budget to Rs1,240bn for the current fiscal year, compared to Rs840bn previously. He also noted substantial reductions in non-development expenditures and the circular debt.

Opposition members led by Malik Ahmed Bhachar, however, raised concerns about rising crime rates, particularly against women, and criticised the government’s agricultural policies, despite the finance minister’s assurances of farmer-friendly initiatives and substantial allocations for the sector.

Demands for grants to the police, health services, education, and Public Health Engineering departments were approved by a majority vote, while the opposition’s cut motions were rejected.

The session was adjourned until Thursday (today) at 11am.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2025