Daily Times

The government easily passed two bills in the Punjab Assembly on Monday without any resistance from the opposition benches despite the fact that the session was convened over the requisition of the opposition.

‘The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill’ and ‘The Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils (Amendment) Bill’ were passed in Punjab Assembly on Monday. It seems that the government is capitalising on the session that has been convened on the requisition of the opposition, as Law Minister Raja Basharat also laid seven ordinances in the House last week on Friday, including the ordinances related to the local government and infection diseases. During the entire procedure of legislation, the resistance felt missing from the opposition benches, which shows that the government and opposition are on good terms as far as the legislation is concerned in Punjab Assembly.

The session of Punjab Assembly once again resumed on Monday after a gap of two days with delay of more than an hour from its scheduled time of 11.30 am. Panel of Chairman Mian Shafi Muhammad was in chair as Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari is in self-isolation after his test of COVID-19 came positive.

Giving answers to the queries of lawmakers, health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the previous governments didn’t focus over the promotion and recruitment of the doctors in the province. We are recruiting the doctors in Children Hospital through Punjab Public Service Commission, she said while adding that the doctors were not promoted for last seven years. “We are taking interviews of 10,000 doctors for the COVID-19 and 2000 interviews have been conducted. It seems that no doctor will remain unemployed now,” said Dr Yasmin Rashid.

Speaking on the floor of the house, senior PML-N lawmaker Sardar Awais Laghari said that the parliamentary role is lacking in the COVID-19 due to the negligence of the government. He also condemned the treatment given to the corona patients at Lahore’s Expo centers as a large number of people protested there demanding better facilities. He was of the view that the government couldn’t make any national policy to deal with the COVID-19. “The data related to the Corona is completely wrong and the government must rethink the decision of lifting the lockdown,” Laghari said. A government ally MPA Maulana Muavia Azam said that the budget of 2020-21 must be interest free as our rulers frequently talk about the model of Madina State in Pakistan. A PTI MPA from Lahore Nazir Chohan also lashed on his own government as he said that the PM Imran Khan is being misguided over the issue of finality of Holy Prophet. He also demanded to form a committee over the issue of Khatm-e-Nabuwat while saying that he is ready to quit government over this noble cause. The session was later adjourned to meet again on Tuesday at 11:30am.