Farmers given cold shoulder at PA

LAHORE
PUNJAB Assembly on Friday began pre-budget debate for seeking members’ suggestions for preparing annual budget 2015-16 in the absence of the opposition members who had walked out after deputy speaker refused them to speak on the problems and demands of protesting growers.
The members from both sides of divide were indifferent to the vitally important debate as the level of their interest in it was shown by the fact that only 22 members were present at the start of the debate, but the number dropped to only 13 after the Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman left the floor open for the members at the conclusion of his opening speech.
The Finance Minister expressed the government’s resolve to minimise the non-development expenditures by cutting down the budget of government offices by 15 percent and setting up of an austerity committee to find more avenues for reducing non-development expenditures. He said the government was already burdened with finance crunch due to redirecting funds for the war on terror which had also badly affected the overall business and trade activities.
Furthermore, he said, the heavy floods of previous year had imposed a heavy strain of Rs20 billion on the provincial exchequer, and government was still suffering from its aftereffects.
However, he said, the government was fully committed to completing all development projects within stipulated time.
‘Thus, in future, we need to generate more resources, either from new taxes or improving financial discipline, to meet growing expenses. In this connection, I ask the members of both sides of the benches to suggest ways to enhance revenue. The government has also already cut administrative cost by 15 percent during the current fiscal year,’ he added.
He said following the tradition of the House, they had opened a four-day discussion to hear views of the members of the House before preparing a balance budget for the next fiscal year. ‘I invite the legislators to give their suggestions for shaping the Punjab Budget 2015-16 and I assure them that their proposals will be incorporated in the next budget,’ he added.
He advised the parliamentarians to give their suggestions while keeping ‘poverty alleviation, development and security issues’ in their mind. He observed that two key issues, security and energy, were affecting the country and hence these needs to be focused.
The minister also said the Punjab government had set an economy growth target of 8 percent, to be achieved by 2018, and he urged the legislators also to float proposals relating growth strategy. He disclosed that the government was intending to create one million jobs per annum for educated youth.
He told the House that the government had focused on education, health, job creation and security. The debate was participated by only three members who were Waheed Gill, Faizan Khalid Virk and Rana Munawwar Gaus.
Earlier, the minister presented the following ordinances before the House: The Punjab Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Ordinance 2015, and The Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2015. He also presented The Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore Bill 2015, which was referred to the Standing Committee on Health. Later, Deputy Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani adjourned the House till Monday afternoon.