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The assembly secretariat has issued its security plan for the session in the
wake of rising incidents of suicide attacks in the country.
Under the plan, no vehicle (whether official or private) will be allowed to
enter the assembly premises as even the speaker will disembark on the road
passing by the assembly in front of the Alfalah building and approach the house
on foot.
No one, including the members of the house, will be allowed to carry guns,
cameras, tape-recorders, cell phones, digital diaries, laptops and briefcases
into the building. All such belongings will have to be deposited with the
security staff.
No guest or bodyguard of anyone will be allowed to enter the building while all
MPAs, assembly employees and journalists covering the session will have to wear
gate-passes/security clearance cards on the left side of their chests.
Punjab Finance, Planning and Development Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira said the
provincial budget would reflect pro-poor initiatives and open new vistas of
development in the province.
Talking to a delegation of MPAs here, the minister said the provincial
government would increase pay and pensions and take steps for poverty
alleviation and creation of new jobs, especially in southern Punjab.
Allocations for health, education and social sectors would be enhanced
substantially and main focus of the annual development programmes would be
underdeveloped areas of the province.
Funds for agriculture research would be increased and special attention would be
paid to research-based activities. He said the tax base required to be broadened
to generate maximum resources for development.
APP quoted Kaira as saying that the Punjab government was going to allocate a
huge sum of Rs 17 billion to continue paying Rs 1,000 per month to the poorest
of the poor under the Income Support Programme.
He said the total budget would be around Rs 490 billion which included Rs 180
billion for carrying Public Sector Development Programmes (PSDP) in the province
during 2009-10.
He said Rs8 billion was also being allocated in the next year's budget to
continue the provision of 'Sasti Roti'. He said an industrial estate would be
established at 500 acres land and it would be exempted from taxes for five
years.
He said the provincial government would spend Rs13 billion on enhancing salaries
and pension of its employees by 15 per cent. No new road construction projects
would be initiated during the next financial year.
More and more funds would be allocated for education, water supply, health and
development of agriculture, he said. |
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