LAHORE:
The Punjab Assembly approved on Thursday 36 of 41 demands for subsidies worth RS3,667.71 billion for several departments, rejecting all cutting motions presented by the opposition.
Cutting motions, which sought to reduce budgetary assignments for alleged poor management and low performance, specific key departments such as police, education, health, agriculture and public health. However, treasure banks dismissed them for most votes.
The subsidies were part of the total budget of 4,306 billion rupees for fiscal year 2025-26.
A day before, on June 25, the Assembly had approved five of the demands that amounted to RS638.29 billion.
The presentation of subsidies followed the conclusion of a five -day general discussion on the budget, led by the Minister of Provincial Finance, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman.
Among the approved subsidies were RS1,036.96 billion for diverse expenses, which caused particular criticisms of opposition legislators. Sheikh Imtiaz, a member of the opposition, argued that this amount represented 20% of the total budget and questioned the lack of transparency about the institutions covered by this category. In response, the Minister of Finance, Rehman, clarified that this amount included assignments for several authorities, the Pension and Pension Fund (PF), as well as initiatives related to the development of women, Baitul Maal and Zakat and Ushr. The Assembly also approved RS125.23 billion for the General Administration and RS9.54 billion for housing and physical planning, despite similar objections raised by the opposition regarding the lack of clarity and alleged overlays with other departments. With the cutting movements of the exhausted opposition, the remaining subsidies were presented and approved through the vote.
These included assignments of more than RS. 462 billion for pensions, more than RS.910 billion for development projects, RS200.10 billion for the Police Department, RS258.97 billion for health services, RS137.53 billion for education, RS26.53 billion for agriculture and RS15.16 billion for public health. Several other departments, including those related to justice, prisons, museums and infrastructure, also received substantial funds through approved demands.
