By Asim Shahzad
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Monday witnessed debate over alleged underpayment of workers employed under the Clean Punjab programme, proposed police involvement in the recovery of e-challans and extensive flood damage in parts of the province before proceedings were cut short due to a lack of quorum.
The session began two hours and seven minutes late under the chairmanship of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan.
During the proceedings, PPP lawmaker Shazia Abid raised concerns over the wages being paid to workers associated with the Clean Punjab programme. She alleged that workers were receiving less than their due payments and said employees were leaving the programme.
She called for attention to the workers’ grievances and the reasons behind employees quitting the initiative.
Speaker questions proposed police role in e-challan recovery
Opposition member Rana Aftab Ahmed strongly objected to a proposal regarding the involvement of police in recovering outstanding e-challans.
He questioned the authority under which the chief traffic officer (CTO) had proposed assigning e-challan recovery responsibilities to police and criticised the approach being adopted by the department.
Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan also expressed reservations over the proposal.
The speaker particularly objected to the idea of withholding the passports of e-challan defaulters, observing that such a measure could amount to an infringement of citizens’ rights.
Flood devastation raised in House
Lawmaker Sardar Shahabuddin drew the House’s attention to destruction caused by floods in his constituency, saying hundreds of houses had been damaged and thousands of families affected.
Taking notice of the matter, the speaker directed Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique to contact deputy commissioners of the flood-hit districts, obtain details of the damage and brief the House.
House welcomes defence agreement
During the sitting, the Punjab Assembly also passed a resolution welcoming the joint defence agreement involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Earlier, opposition member Iqbal Khattak raised an objection concerning uniformed personnel during the national anthem, pointing out that they had not saluted.
Responding to the matter, the speaker directed the personnel to refrain from saluting during the national anthem.
Quorum issue cuts proceedings short
The session ran into difficulty as the House moved towards government business.
Opposition member Colonel (retd) Shoaib Amir pointed out the lack of quorum, prompting the speaker to suspend proceedings for five minutes to allow the required number of lawmakers to assemble.
However, the necessary quorum could not be completed when the House reconvened.
The speaker subsequently adjourned the Punjab Assembly session until 2pm on Tuesday.
