Discussion on Punjab Budget 2004-05: MPAs for cut in non-development spending

* Call for more development funds for health, education and irrigation
* Minority leader wants property rights for slum residents

By Qamar Jabbar

LAHORE: Legislators urged the provincial government to cut non-development expenditure and spend more on healthcare, education and irrigation during a discussion on the provincial 2004-05 budget in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday.

Treasury and opposition members of the house said the Kalabagh Dam must be built as soon as possible to overcome power and irrigation water shortages and urged Speaker Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal Sahi to form a house committee to negotiate with the legislators of the other three provincial assemblies to develop a consensus on the issue.

Members of the Punjab Assembly belonging to the southern Punjab urged the government to develop remote areas to eliminate the growing sense of deprivation among the people of those areas. They said hospitals, colleges, universities and small dams should be built in Multan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.

Opening the third day of budget discussions, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Parliamentary Leader Asghar Gujjar said President General Pervez Musharraf had promised the construction of the Kalabagh Dam, but no allocation had been made in the federal budget for the dam’s construction.

Mr Gujjar demanded the resignation of the provincial agriculture minister, saying he had failed to introduce new reforms and research methods. He also called for reforms to improve healthcare, education and law and order.

Treasury member Chaudhry Javed Ahmad demanded that underdeveloped areas be declared tax free zones for agri-based industries. Fertilisers, pesticides and seeds should be provided to farmers at cheaper prices, he said.

Mr Ahmad urged the government to set up the ‘Baba Fareed Gang Shakar University’ in Sahiwal, which would benefit students from Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal. He suggested a house committee be formed to develop consensus among the provinces on the Kalabagh Dam.

Opposition member Javed Saddiqui criticised the government for ignoring southern Punjab in the budget. He said under the Annual Development Programme for 2004-05, the government had allocated Rs 8 billion for the construction of 281 roads in eights divisions, out of which only 18 projects were in Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan. He said a lot of money had been allocated for the construction of roads in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, which was “unjust” to the people of southern Punjab. He said 52 projects were included in the ADP for education, but only one project, a Rs 35 million upgrade of the Dera Ghazi Khan Degree College, was for southern Punjab while the rest were for upper Punjab.

Mr Saddiqui demanded public representatives be empowered to prepare the annual budget instead of depending on the bureaucracy. He suggested pre-budget sessions should be held at the district level before the budget to discuss development projects with elected representatives.

Dr Anjum Amjad, speaking in response to Mr Saddiqui, said about 56 percent of development funds were for southern Punjab. She said legislators belonging to the southern Punjab should abstain from creating regional prejudice.

Lahore is the heart of Punjab and its development is necessary for all of the Punjab, she said, adding that Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi was elected from Rahim Yar Khan and he was giving special attention to remote areas. She urged legislators from the southern Punjab to formulate development schemes for their areas.

Minority member Joel Amir Sahotara demanded the government award property rights to minority people living in slums (katchi abadies). He also demanded minority members be included in district Baitul Maal committees. He thanked the Punjab chief minister for allocating funds for the renovation of places of worship.

Samiullah Khan of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians and Saghira Islam of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz declared the budget a product of bureaucrats and demanded the government cut non-development expenditure and increase development spending. They said the Vision 2020 introduced by the Punjab chief minister could not be implemented until and unless the army returned to the barracks.

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