Daily Times

The Punjab Assembly (PA) on Wednesday approved Rs 358 billion grant as supplementary budget for the month of March 2024 during the PA session in the assembly chambers here.

The PA session started three hours 15 minutes behind its scheduled time with Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan in the chair. The day’s agenda was to approve supplementary budget by the House to meet essential expenses. The treasury benches MPA Marriyum Aurangzeb moved the motion to approve current expenses of the newly-formed Punjab government before the august house. The chair allowed the motion under Rules 125 and 104 of the Punjab assembly. The Chair invited the opposition to debate the motion in case of objection or it may ask for a vote on the motion.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, in the motion, had demanded that the budget should be allowed for smooth functioning of the day to day affairs in the province till the formation of the government and the provincial cabinet. She said the budget proposals could not be formulated due to the absence of the cabinet, adding that the province may face a shut down if a supplementary budget was not approved by the house.

Meanwhile, Leader of the House Maryam Nawaz Sharif went across the aisle to greet the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) leader Rana Aftab Ahmed as the opposition was absent from the house on the day the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz won the vote of confidence in the house.

The Leader of the House Maryam Nawaz assured the SIC leader that her doors were open to the opposition as she was Chief Minister of the whole of the province.