Five varsities set up during 2019-20, PA told

LAHORE:Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf government established five universities in the province during the year 2019-20, the Punjab Assembly was told on Monday. According to a report laid on the floor of PA, the universities set up between 2019-20 include Women University Rawalpindi, University of Mianwali, University of Chakwal, Kohsar University Murree and Guru Nanak University, district Nankana.

Meanwhile, the government came under immense criticism for its failure in controlling price hike. During a debate over inflation, PPP parliamentary leader Syed Hassan criticised the government for its inability to address the issue of price hike which was adding to woes of people. He also said that the PTI government was responsible for the prevailing inflation in the country that had skyrocketed since it came to power in 2018. He said the rates of petroleum and gas increased many times compared to the tenures of past governments during two and a half years.

Syed Hassan Murtaza, who is also an agriculturist and hails from Chiniot, grilled the government for rejecting the resolution regarding fixation of the support price of wheat at Rs 2000 per maund.

He stated it clearly indicated the anti-farmers stance of the government. PML (N) MPA Sami Ullah Khan on the occasion said that main reason for the price hike is increase in petroleum products but the government had not been able to control this problem.

Moreover, the Punjab Assembly gave extension for 90 days to different ordinances including the Punjab Hotels and Restaurants (Amendment) Ordinance 2020, the Punjab Tourist Guide Ordinance (Amendment) Ordinance 2020, the Punjab Panah Gah Ordinance 2021 and the King Edward Medical University Lahore (Amendment) Ordinance 2021.

Meanwhile, a PML-N MPA has filed an adjournment motion in the Punjab Assembly against stoppage of grant to public libraries by Punjab Libraries Foundation. The motion was filed by PML-N MPA Hina Pervaiz Butt here on Monday. In the motion, she pointed out that the proceedings of the assembly be adjourned to discuss an important and urgent issue of public importance. She had already submitted several adjournment motions as well as resolutions in the Punjab Assembly highlighting public issues. She, in the motion,said that the Punjab Libraries Foundation has closed several of its projects but despite the closure of projects, the officers of the foundation were receiving hefty salaries and perks.

She submitted that for the past several years the foundation has not released any grants to public libraries across the province while it was spending millions of rupees on salaries and benefits of its officers.

“The purpose of the Punjab Libraries Foundation is to provide funding for the construction and development of libraries in Punjab. The project under the Punjab Libraries Foundation has been delayed since 2017 while the officials of the foundation bought vehicles worth millions in the name of the storytelling project,” she maintained in the motion. The motion further stated that the project could not be started in three years but millions of rupees were spent in the name of the award. Therefore, it was requested that her movement should be declared formal and allow it to be debated in the House, she concluded in the motion.

Hina Pervaiz Butt while talking to The News said that public libraries were one of the main needs of a developing country because in this digital era the libraries provide accurate and authentic information to the citizens.

She said besides being a reading place, libraries were also considered a place where different segments of society interact with each other and share knowledge. “There are an estimated 315,000 public libraries in the world, 73 per cent of them are in developing and transitioning countries,” she said, adding the public libraries are an essential part of creating and maintaining an educated and literate population.