Business News

LAHORE, June 7 (APP): The Punjab Assembly continued
discussion on the annual budget 2017-18 on the third consective
day on Wednesday.
As many as 29 lawmakers from both treasury and opposition
benches took part in the debate on provincial budget. However,
thin presence of lawmakers was noticed throughout the sitting.
Earlier, the fourth sitting of the 30th session of
current assembly started 43 minutes behind its scheduled time
with Deputy Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani in the chair.
Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal is currently
performing as acting governor Punjab in the absence of
Punjab Governor Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana.
Participating in the budget debate, treasury lawmakers
said new financial year would be the year of improvement. In
the next financial year, they said, additional Rs 55 billion
would be spent on health sector, adding that in 2017-18 budget,
Rs 263 billion had been allocated for Specialized Healthcare
and Primary and Secondary Health which was a record. They
termed the provincial budget historic and people-friendly
and said that hefty allocations made for various sectors.
They said next year, all the THQ hospitals would be
modernized and 100 mobile health units would also be procured
for easy access of people to healthcare facilities at their
doorstep. They said these initiatives reflect the poeple-friendly
policies of Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
They said that greater emphasis had been laid on education
sector as hefty allocations had been made for this sector of
vital importance. “The new financial year will be a year of
development for agriculture sector and it will flourish more
in days to come,” the legislators said.
They eulogized Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz
Sharif and the finance minister for giving such a good budget.
Opposition lawmakers who spoke on the proposed budget
were Dr Wasim Akhtar from JI, Mian Aslam Iqbal from PTI,
Sardar Shahabuddin Din from PPPP.
Present in the House, Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghous
Pasha noted all proposals and suggestions to incorporate
them in the Budget 2017-18.
Provincial Ministers Rana Sanaullah Khan, Khalil Tahir
Sindhu, Zaeem Hussain Qadri attended the session.
Tomorrow, (Thursday), will be the last day for general
discussion on annual Budget 2017-18.
On completion of day’s agenda, the chair adjourned the
House till next morning, Thursday at 11:00 am.