LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Monday passed an amendment bill making a hefty increase in financial perks and privileges of elected members, the speaker, deputy speaker, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, special assistants and advisers.

As per the Punjab Revision of Salaries of Public Representatives Bill 2024, tabled by minister Mujtaba Shuja and passed with a majority vote, the increase in the salaries for these offices ranges between 860 per cent (for ministers) and 426pc (for MPAs).

Opposition leader Ahmed Khan Bhachar, however, opposed the bill, asking if it conformed to the parliamentary laws act of 1972.

Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, who was chairing the session, responded that the bill was in accordance with the law and was a ‘positive’ step by the incumbent government. After the bill, the salary of provincial ministers has been increased from Rs100,000 to Rs960,000.

The speaker’s salary has been increased from Rs125,000 to Rs950,000 whereas the deputy speaker will draw Rs775,000 instead of Rs120,000. The parliamentary secretaries would receive a monthly salary of Rs451,000 instead of Rs83,000 while the special assistants and advisers to the CM will receive Rs665,000 instead of Rs100,000.

Ministers to draw salary of nearly Rs1m, lawmakers’ pay rises to Rs0.4m

The monthly salary of MPAs increased from Rs76,000 to Rs400,000 after the approval of the bill.

It may be noted that the Punjab government had fixed Rs37,000 as the minimum wage in the recent budget.

Law and order

The house debated the law and order situation in the province. Minister Mujtaba Shuja claimed that the crime rate dropped by 29pc in the province during the year 2023-24. He said that at least 253 criminals were arrested in the kachha (riverine) area and 88 others were killed during an operation clean-up in the area. He said that the capacity of the police to control law and order was being built, and funds were provided to procure the latest weapons for them.

He said that the Safe City project was being taken to all districts of the province to help the law enforcers maintain order in society.

Opposition leader Ahmed Khan Bhachar alleged that Punjab has been turned into a jail for his party, the PTI. Recalling that the PML-N, while in the opposition, had been giving protest calls and blocking roads, but the then PTI-led government had not stopped them from protesting.

He challenged the government to allow the PTI to hold a protest demonstration even in the Cholistan desert so it could prove its public following by pulling crowds even to that area. He said that had a judicial commission been formed to probe the May 9 incidents, no new incidents of violence would have taken place.

Earlier, the opposition held a protest at the staircase of the assembly building against the alleged killing of PTI workers in Islamabad on Nov 26 during the D-Chowk protest.

The house also unanimously adopted a resolution, moved by treasury MPA Rahila Khadim Hussain, showing solidarity with the families of those martyred in the 2014 tragedy in which terrorists had shot dead 122 innocent students of APS Peshawar on Dec 16.

Arguing that the terrorists didn’t deserve any leniency, it demanded strict action. It also lauded the bravery of the APS teachers, who had courageously tried to save the lives of their students.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2024