The proceedings of the provincial assembly on Monday were marred by low attendance and lukewarm attitude of the lawmakers. The important sitting of National Assembly on Monday was attended by both the leader of the house and leader of the opposition, but the Punjab Assembly met without the chief minister and opposition leader.
The session of the provincial assembly continued for 80 minutes and the session was adjourned by the speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan till 10 AM Tuesday (today) due to the lack of quorum.
It has become a routine for the assembly that its Leader of House Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif does not attend the session but the absence of the Leader of the Opposition Mian Mehmood ur Rashid was also being discussed in the press gallery.
Even senior minister Rana Sanaullah did not show up at the assembly. According to the agenda of the day, questions related to the health department were answered by Parliamentary Secretary on Health Khwaja Imran Nazeer.
“A delegation of the health department including the representatives of Young Doctors Association (YDA) held a meeting with the chief minister on Sunday and the strategies for the uplift of health department were discussed in detail”, he said.
Chaudhry Faisal Farooq Cheema, a lawmaker from Sargodha belonging to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), criticised the government for not establishing Basic Health Units (BHUs) in his constituency.
In his supplementary question, he asked why the government is still unable to establish the BHUs in the rural areas of the province. “I accept that there are some areas where the BHUs are not functional. We cannot establish new BHUs until the already existing units are made functional,” the parliamentary secretary said.
In a question, a ruling party legislator from Sahiwal Muhammad Arshad Malik said that the condition of health in his division is deplorable and that the EDO health does not bother to visit the abandoned BHUs as there are several deserted BHUs in Sahiwal where even the staff is not available.
He was of the view that the funds allocated for the teaching hospital of Sahiwal are not being utilised properly and that the machinery available at District Headquarters Hospital of Sahiwal is also in a dilapidated condition. The speaker referred the matter to the health committee and sought its report within two months.
MPA Hina Pervaiz Butt asked about the penalty and imprisonment of a quack when his clinic is sealed. The parliamentary secretary answered that the quacks are imposed with heavy amount of fine but so far there is no law for their imprisonment, adding that the government is planning to make the law soon.
Opposition lawmakers including Dr Murad Ras and Shoaib Siddiqui protested when the speaker announced that the question answer session is over. “We come to the house with thorough preparation but the chair does not allow us to ask questions”, Dr Murad Ras said.
Parliamentary Secretary on Finance Rana Babar Hussain started the government business by moving the annual reports of Punjab Pension Fund for the year 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. He was speaking when the session was adjourned due to the lack of quorum.
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).issued a statement saying that Punjab Assembly could not continue its proceeding except for the question hour due to lack of quorum on Monday during the sixth sitting of the 21st session. It was the fourth consecutive sitting adjourned due to the lack of quorum.