06:47
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LAHORE
PUNJAB Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Friday took a strong exception to the Irrigation department officials for misleading the House. He also reprimanded Agriculture Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh for his failure to submit classified details of the queries in black and white to the assembly members.
He constituted a committee on the matter to give him report on the matter till Monday so that concrete action could be taken against the responsible.
Unlike his senior colleague Speaker Rana Iqbal who is mostly found protecting Treasury even at the cost of the sanctity of the assembly, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood has always made his presence felt. The session on Friday was no difference when he took Agriculture Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh to the task.
The answer-sheet pertaining to the Irrigation department was containing identical responses that the details of the classified answers had been placed at the table of all the members separately. Nevertheless, the Deputy Speaker found out that the department had just cheated the House as no member was provided with any such separate details. This thing made, otherwise calm, Rana Mashhood annoyed and he took serious note of it.
“I am not going to tolerate such nonsense. The departments are ridiculing the sanctity of the assembly and I cannot allow them to do it at any cost,” furious Mashhood said and claimed that he had himself noticed that there 20 questions about which the department had mentioned that its answers were placed at the members tables but no-one among members got any such papers.
“We do not come here for the sake of fun but it is a serious business. This House is the representative of 90 million people of Punjab and we cannot allow any official to challenge its sanctity,” he claimed and conveyed to Law Minister Rana Sana to take notice of the anomaly. In order to calm the offended Deputy Speaker, Irrigation Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh tried to pacify him through stating that he had already suspended two Xens of the department for not providing him with the required information just a day back and he would definitely take stern action against the responsible officials.
Nevertheless, the Deputy Speaker did not consider it appropriate to merely rely on the statement of the minister concerned and directed the parliamentary committee on Irrigation to investigate the issue and present its report to the House till Monday. He also took notice of the oft-repeated responses from the Minister that the work on certain dams halted because of stay from the high court.
The minister was of the view that they had initiated action against corrupt officials who were found misappropriating funds during the construction of certain dams in connivance with contractors. He claimed that the officials had got stay from the high court.
Deputy Speaker Mashhood remarked that the stay should not be the pretext to halt work on the construction of dams. He was of the opinion that stay orders might be regarding holding enquiry against officers but they had nothing to do with the construction work on dams which should carry on at any cost. He further directed Law Minister Rana Sana to himself look into the matter so that the stay orders from the courts could be vacated.
Earlier, the members across the divide lambasted the Irrigation minister amidst allegations that most of the answers he was giving were either irrelevant or incorrect. The members, majority of whom belonged to the Treasury criticized the claims of the irrigation minister regarding the construction of dams.
Munawer Ghaus from the PPP alleged that the provincial government had been allocating hefty funds in the Annual Development Program every year for the constructing of 20 dams for the last five years but they had started work on just three dams out of the total 20 while contractors had just completed 15 percent work even on the three dams. He further demanded that the minister be accountable before the House regarding the money they had given to the contractor besides briefing them on the remaining amount which they had allocated in the ADP for the construction of 17 dams as where it had been spent.
Ahmed Ali Aulakh claimed that they had so far constructed 55 dams but he failed to give their details.
Another member from PML-N Muhammad Sher Ali from Attock complained that most of the under-construction dams in his area were either incomplete for the last many years or could not be started. He further pointed out glaring mistakes in the answers submitted by the department.
Munawar Ghaus from the PPP complained that most of the water courses in Punjab were without lining due which there were increasing incidents of water theft. The minister informed that the lining of entire water courses required huge funds and the department did not have sufficient funds to undertake such a project.
PUNJAB Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Friday took a strong exception to the Irrigation department officials for misleading the House. He also reprimanded Agriculture Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh for his failure to submit classified details of the queries in black and white to the assembly members.
He constituted a committee on the matter to give him report on the matter till Monday so that concrete action could be taken against the responsible.
Unlike his senior colleague Speaker Rana Iqbal who is mostly found protecting Treasury even at the cost of the sanctity of the assembly, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood has always made his presence felt. The session on Friday was no difference when he took Agriculture Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh to the task.
The answer-sheet pertaining to the Irrigation department was containing identical responses that the details of the classified answers had been placed at the table of all the members separately. Nevertheless, the Deputy Speaker found out that the department had just cheated the House as no member was provided with any such separate details. This thing made, otherwise calm, Rana Mashhood annoyed and he took serious note of it.
“I am not going to tolerate such nonsense. The departments are ridiculing the sanctity of the assembly and I cannot allow them to do it at any cost,” furious Mashhood said and claimed that he had himself noticed that there 20 questions about which the department had mentioned that its answers were placed at the members tables but no-one among members got any such papers.
“We do not come here for the sake of fun but it is a serious business. This House is the representative of 90 million people of Punjab and we cannot allow any official to challenge its sanctity,” he claimed and conveyed to Law Minister Rana Sana to take notice of the anomaly. In order to calm the offended Deputy Speaker, Irrigation Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh tried to pacify him through stating that he had already suspended two Xens of the department for not providing him with the required information just a day back and he would definitely take stern action against the responsible officials.
Nevertheless, the Deputy Speaker did not consider it appropriate to merely rely on the statement of the minister concerned and directed the parliamentary committee on Irrigation to investigate the issue and present its report to the House till Monday. He also took notice of the oft-repeated responses from the Minister that the work on certain dams halted because of stay from the high court.
The minister was of the view that they had initiated action against corrupt officials who were found misappropriating funds during the construction of certain dams in connivance with contractors. He claimed that the officials had got stay from the high court.
Deputy Speaker Mashhood remarked that the stay should not be the pretext to halt work on the construction of dams. He was of the opinion that stay orders might be regarding holding enquiry against officers but they had nothing to do with the construction work on dams which should carry on at any cost. He further directed Law Minister Rana Sana to himself look into the matter so that the stay orders from the courts could be vacated.
Earlier, the members across the divide lambasted the Irrigation minister amidst allegations that most of the answers he was giving were either irrelevant or incorrect. The members, majority of whom belonged to the Treasury criticized the claims of the irrigation minister regarding the construction of dams.
Munawer Ghaus from the PPP alleged that the provincial government had been allocating hefty funds in the Annual Development Program every year for the constructing of 20 dams for the last five years but they had started work on just three dams out of the total 20 while contractors had just completed 15 percent work even on the three dams. He further demanded that the minister be accountable before the House regarding the money they had given to the contractor besides briefing them on the remaining amount which they had allocated in the ADP for the construction of 17 dams as where it had been spent.
Ahmed Ali Aulakh claimed that they had so far constructed 55 dams but he failed to give their details.
Another member from PML-N Muhammad Sher Ali from Attock complained that most of the under-construction dams in his area were either incomplete for the last many years or could not be started. He further pointed out glaring mistakes in the answers submitted by the department.
Munawar Ghaus from the PPP complained that most of the water courses in Punjab were without lining due which there were increasing incidents of water theft. The minister informed that the lining of entire water courses required huge funds and the department did not have sufficient funds to undertake such a project.
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