LAHORE:Provincial Minister Attullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the opposition parties attempted to hinder the present government’s public service mission by delaying the provincial budget presentation.
Addressing a press conference along with Punjab Minister Malik Ahmad Khan, he said the staff of the Punjab Assembly was creating hurdles in presentation of budget 2022-23, as provincial ministers had been stopped from entering the assembly premises.
Tarar said that an emergency meeting of the provincial cabinet was held on Tuesday night in which Secretary Law presented a summary that the Punjab Assembly speaker did not allow presentation of budget according to the schedule. If the budget session was not convened, it would affect the rights of masses as the budget would bring welfare and relief for them, he added.
He said that in the present circumstances, the Punjab cabinet advised the Punjab governor on Tuesday night to convene the 40th session of the assembly and three ordinances were issued by the governor after approval of the provincial cabinet.
Malik Ahmad Khan said that the opposition was trying to create constitutional crisis in the province by using delaying tactics, adding that it had created crises on the occasion of chief minister’s election and the provincial cabinet oath. He said that he could not even imagine that Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi could create hurdles in presenting the provincial budget. “It is not just about governance but the life of people,” he said.
The minister said that the budget was linked with the matters and well-being of common man as around 120 million people of the province would directly benefit from it.