The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution seeking effective legislation to discourage underage marriages.
The resolution was moved by MPA Azma Bokhari. She was of the opinion that such kind of marriages were leading to numerous problems, besides multiplying the growth rate.
The house also adopted another resolution moved by MPA Nighat Sheikh in which she stated that 70 percent of women get admission on open merit in medical colleges but only 30 percent work in the field. She suggested that affidavits be made compulsory to bind the female students to work in government hospitals for at least five years after completion of their degrees.
The House also passed a resolution of Maulana Ilyas Chinioti.
During question-hour session, Parliamentary Secretary for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Sajjad Gujjar said that the Punjab government was spending large amount of funds on raising the living standard of the people.
“All basic amenities are being ensured to every citizen,” he said, adding that modern public health engineering schemes are also being introduced.
In response to a question, the House was told that during 2012-13, Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) had incurred Rs93,246 on installation of water filtration plants in Lahore.
The House was also told that recruitment against vacant seats in WASA would be made between three to four months and feasibility of 12 schemes under urban water supply scheme had been forwarded to the department concerned for approval.
The House was adjourned till Wednesday (today).
Twenty five (7 percent) lawmakers were present at the outset and 43 (12 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting. The quorum was visibly lacking during the entire sitting. However, it was not pointed out by any of the lawmakers. The leader of the House and opposition leader were both absent. Among parliamentary leaders, only Jamat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders attended the sitting.
