Opp issues ‘charge sheet’ against govt

LAHORE

The Leader of the Opposition PTI MPA Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed on Monday in Punjab Assembly issued a charge sheet against the government for failing to perform in all aspects of governance as a part of his introductory pre-budget speech.

Blasting the government over the lack of emphasis on human development, the Opposition leader painted a gloomy picture of the state of government hospitals with no surgical equipment and staff shortage, arsenic drinking water in urban and rural areas, disparity between public and private school’s academic curriculum, economically frustrated farmers in the province, and diminished powers of local government representatives. He pointed out that the Punjab government had still to announce the Annual Wheat Procurement policy despite the ongoing wheat harvest season. Noticeably, Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha, who was earlier present in the House, remained absent throughout the speech of the Opposition Leader.

He complained that the budget was prepared entirely by bureaucrats and elected representatives in the House were not consulted in the process of deciding budgetary allocations for the upcoming fiscal year. Mehmood-ur-Rasheed demanded that parliamentary standing committees be empowered and their input on the budget be seriously taken into consideration.

The Opposition leader claimed that the country was not on a path to economic growth and instead was suffering a deficit of staggering Rs580 billion. Every year the government introduces a supplementary budget of billions of rupees, the Opposition leader continued, which is used to fund expenses of those in power and not on public welfare projects as claimed. He informed the House that Pakistan had a ranking number of 144 on the Human Development Index which reflected the government’s sincerity to combat poverty.

Instead of spending millions of rupees on educating out-of-school children in the province as obligatory under Article 25 (A) of the Constitution, he said the government was making block allocations to fund expenses of the Chief Minister office and significant amounts of funds were lapsing as a part of budget under-utilisation.

He also blasted the government for spending billions on law and order, including Punjab police without getting improved results in their performance with acts of theft, murder, and abduction increasing across the province. Despite making statements that ‘thana culture’ was being reformed, the Opposition leader stated that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was blind to the state of police stations in Punjab.

He also criticised the practice of arbitrarily changing the posts of SHOs and DSPs in the province after only a short time in service. Referring to the terrorist attack at Gulshan-e-Iqbal park, he said all parks in the city should have been secured in light of threats received by law enforcement agencies.

Talking about the plight of farmers, the Opposition leader demanded that the government end the general sales tax of 17 percent on agricultural input and provide subsidies to farmers instead of returning their taxed income in the form of Kissan Packages. He criticised the Ashiana Housing Scheme of the government for failing to provide good quality housing to the homeless in the province and claimed that Lahore Development Authority was behaving similar to a private real estate agency.

Earlier in the Assembly session on Monday, the Parliamentary Secretary for Home Mehr Ijaz Ahmad Achlana faced a tough time responding to questions from members regarding the expanding alcohol and drugs trade, accidents involving sugar-cane trolleys, lack of CCTV cameras in the city, and still to be formed Child Rights Commission of Punjab.

On a point of order after question hour, PPP MPA Faiza Ahmad Malik paid tribute to the hanged former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the occasion of his death anniversary.

The opposition earlier in the session also staged a walkout from the House after the Speaker refused to accept an out-of-turn resolution from the Opposition leader over the leaked Panama Papers that reveal the wealth stored in offshore accounts by political leaders and businessmen in the country.

He said the PML-N had made promises in its 2013 election campaign that all of this would be returned to the country but was now adopting silence as it too had been complicit in this illegal activity.

Shortly after, PTI MPA Dr Shunila Ruth pointed out quorum which was completed after an extended break of 30 minutes.  The House will now resume on Tuesday (today).