- Provincial assembly only passes three demands for grants due to ruckus
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly could pass only three demands for grants worth Rs 1.429 billion for the assembly and departments of Finance, Treasury & Local Fund, Audit and Planning, Development and Statistics during its Tuesday’s proceedings due to a pandemonium triggered by a brawl between two Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf legislators.
The demand for grant of Rs 168 million for the provincial assembly was approved without any cut motion from any member of the House. However, the demand for grant for Administration and Establishment could not be passed and was deferred for an indefinite period.
The demand for grant of Rs 3.05 billion was on series No 2 of the list of grant, but due to stubborn attitude of the department regarding granting facilities equivalent to the employees of the Civil Secretariat, the grant was deferred.
Bakht Baidar of the Qaumi Watan Party, who is also the chairman of the assembly’s Standing Committee on Administration Department, told the House that the department had been asked a number of times, but it had adopted a stubborn attitude. The House, while agreeing to the contentions of Baidar, announced deferring of the grant.
During the proceedings, the performance of the departments of Finance, Treasury & Local Fund Audit came under fire in the House and several opposition members presented cut motions, citing poor performance of the departments.
The speaker, Asad Qaiser, put the cut motions to vote and the House rejected them with majority to approve them.
Though the demand for grant of Rs.79 million for the Information Technology Department was presented, but due to the scuffle between treasury legislators the sitting had to be adjourned till Wednesday.
Babar Saleem, a treasury member, had moved a cut motion of Rs 420 which annoyed the treasury benches and he entered a brawl with Health Minister Shehram Tarkai.
Saleem said the names of all family members of Shehram were in the Panama Papers, while Shehram said he would see Saleem outside the assembly. Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak witnessed the whole episode and did not even utter a single word.
Senior members intervened and brought the situation under control.
Later, talking to media, opposition legislators termed the incident “shameful”, saying that the lawmakers hurled threats inside the House which was a matter of grave concern.
