Maryam tells opposition in PA: Stop protest, let Pakistan progress

LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly Friday witnessed complete disorder during the address of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, after which membership of 11 opposition MPAs was suspended by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan for 15 session days.

The chief minister made a passionate appeal to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members to stop making hue and cry and become part of the parliamentary proceedings for progress of the country. “Stop it now; it’s enough, let Pakistan progress,” she warned the opposition members.

However, the opposition MPAs kept chanting slogans against the government and the PMLN leadership, and the speaker became helpless to maintain order in the house. The SIC MPAs paid a deaf ear to his warnings and continued raising slogans during the CM speech. Some ministers also exchanged harsh words with the opposition members, and the house witnessed complete disorder. Later, the speaker suspended membership of 11 opposition members for using “indecent” and un-parliamentary language during the budget session. He banned them from entering the house for 15 session days.

The suspended SIC members include Zulfiqar Ali, Shahbaz Ahmed, Muhammad Atif, Tayyab Rashid, Imtiaz Mahmood, Hafiz Farhat Abbas, Chaudhry Muhammad Ijaz Shafi, Rana Aurangzeb, Shoaib Amir, Usama Asghar Ali Gujjar and Asad Abbas.

She told the house the opposition had nothing to show on ground other than making hue and cry. She said the 100-day performance of her government could not be summed up in one speech. Vowing to implement the Punjab budget in letter and spirit, Maryam said she would not disappoint people of the province. She promised that she would not sit idle ever and continue serving people of Punjab.

Maryam said like 911 emergency system of the USA, her government was coming up with the same idea to meet any emergency situations. She said that along with the setting up of Nawaz Sharif IT cities, free high-speed WiFi service for the people of Punjab would also be provided. She told the house, no appointments in Punjab had been made against merit, asserting that no other chief minister could make such a claim.

Later on, according to a handout, during her address in the PA, the CM hoped that the opposition would appreciate the budget as it did not impose any new taxes on the people of Punjab for the first time. She announced significant measures including the launch of a laptop scheme worth Rs10 billion, in collaboration with Google International, which would provide digital skills training to over 300,000 children annually. Additionally, new tech education programmes, such as Middle Tech, Matric Tech, and Inter Tech, are being introduced for the first time.

The CM also unveiled initiatives in machine learning, artificial intelligence, e-merchandising, and startups skill development programmes, aiming to educate 4,000 children in IT across every district of Punjab. Sports competitions will be held in every district, with school sports grounds being converted into community sports grounds. She assured that students excelling academically would have their university fees paid by her. The minimum wage has been increased to Rs37,000 per month and systems are being implemented to ensure workers receive their full wages.

She said skill development programmes for children of labourers, including courses in plumbing, nursing, electrician work, and hotel industry skills, would be launched, and the “Maryam Ki Dastak” project would include 65 more services within three months across all districts. Centres of Excellence for differently-abled individuals and autism centres were being established in every district. The first pre-school, Nawaz Sharif Children’s Library, would be set up in Lahore, offering state-of-the-art facilities and specialised teachers. She announced the issuance of “Himmat Cards” for the disabled and bedridden individuals, the provision of wheelchairs, subsidised threshers and super-seeders for farmers, and the initiation of solar-powered agriculture tube wells.

Focus is on increasing oil seed production, with a Rs30 billion green tractor scheme where 70pc of the cost would be covered by the government, she said and thanked the acting chief justice of Lahore High Court for ending the young doctors association’s strike.

The government is establishing rescue services and trauma centres on all motorways in Punjab. This week, two air ambulances are arriving in Pakistan, which will serve the poor, not the wealthy. “We are building the first Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital in Pakistan, with outpatient services starting in a few months,” she added. “Additionally, we are adding 500 more mobile clinics,” the CM announced.

Maryam said construction of the Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cardiology had begun. In the next three years, every city would have facilities for burns treatment, cardiology, and cancer care. “We are providing cardiology and cardiac surgery services in eight districts of Punjab. An advanced emergency response system was being launched in Punjab. The first Nawaz Sharif IT City in Pakistan was progressing successfully. High-speed WiFi was being provided at 200 locations in Lahore, and this free WiFi project will be extended throughout Punjab,” she said.

In three months, the CM said the safe city system would be operational in 18 districts, and within a year, it would be launched in all 36 districts of Punjab. Maryam announced the establishment of waste management companies in all districts, which would be implemented across Punjab in three to four months. The Green Punjab goals include the Plant for Pakistan initiative, a climate-resilient smog-free Punjab, wildlife census and the largest tree-planting campaign in history. For the first time, 700 new buses were being added to the public transport system across Punjab. A petrol and e-bike project for students has been launched, with motorcycles being distributed to students on July 10. Initially, 10,000 applications for e-bikes were received from female students, so the number was increased from 20,000 to 30,000. A pilot project for shrimp farming has begun, with the first yield expected in the market in two months. Over 600 road repair and restoration projects have also started, the CM stated.

The CM praised Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman for making the historic budget possible. Medicines that were unavailable in hospitals during the previous tenure were now being provided again, she said and added that free medicines were being distributed in all government hospitals and delivered to people’s doorsteps.

Maryam said a 10-kilogram bag of flour, which was sold for Rs1380 in March, is now available for 800 rupees. While other provinces made announcements, they couldn’t provide bread at Rs13. “We are starting a free meal programme from preschool to fifth grade across Punjab. The free meal project is worth Rs27 billion, which will meet the nutritional needs of children and improve their growth. The pilot project for the free meal program will begin in South Punjab,” she announced. After the summer holidays, the Punjab government would provide free milk to all children in schools. “I am also going to restart the laptop scheme from Shehbaz Sharif’s era,” she said.