Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman Tuesday returned four bills unsigned to the Punjab Assembly (PA) including the Punjab Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) (Amendment) (Repeal) Bill 2022.
The other bills returned with directions for improvement in public interest include the Punjab Ehsaas Programme Bill 2022, Punjab Local Governments Bill 2022, and Urdu Language Bill 2022. The governor observed that as regards the Punjab Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) (Amendment) (Repeal) Bill 2022, the rationale for returning it is that if the bill is assented to and becomes a law, it would entail huge expenditures, which would be a burden on the public exchequer.
According to the Governor’s House PR department, the rationale behind returning the Punjab Ehsaas Programme Bill was that the secretary to the Punjab government, finance department or his nominated member, not below the rank of an additional secretary, should be a member of Ehsaas council. This is a newly introduced bill by the government to eradicate poverty and provide social protection. The funds for the Ehsaas programme will be required from the finance department, so a member of the finance department in the Ehsaas council would facilitate and streamline the working of the programme.
On the LG Bill 2021, the governor called for reconsidering the subject bill. The PA had made amendments to Section 10 and 187; therefore, this is not the bill originally passed by the Assembly on Sept 14, 2022, and presented to the governor for assent on Sept 16, 2022. “Since the bill passed by the PA in its sitting on October 19, 2022 includes amendments, it shall be considered to have been passed afresh on October 19, 2022 and conveyed to the governor on Oct 20, 2022,” the PR department explained.
