Punjab Assembly approves Rs5.33tr tax-free budget
• 41 demands for grants okayed; eight cut motions presented by opposition rejected
• Bill to set up autism centre tabled, among others
• Treasury MPA slams ‘illegal raid’ by police
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a tax-free budget worth Rs5.33tr for the fiscal year 2025-26 with a majority vote. It also passed the Finance Bill 2025-26.
No new taxes have been imposed in the budget, and the existing tax structure also remains unchanged. There are no changes to provincial revenues, property tax, or transport tax. No additional taxes have been levied on any sector, including industry, agriculture, health, or education.
The focus of the budget, in the words of Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, was on development, with 18 new projects allocated funds across various sectors as the government aimed to stay the course by encouraging economic activity without further tightening the tax net.
Prior to this, 41 demands for grants totaling over Rs4,31bn for various departments were approved, while all the eight cut motions presented by the opposition PTI were rejected by the house with a majority vote.
According to the budgetary allocation, over Rs120bn will be spent on the construction of roads and bridges in the upcoming fiscal year. Over Rs462bn have been set aside for pensioners. Around Rs258bn will be spent on health facilities, while a sum of over Rs137bn will go to the education system.
The police department has been given Rs200bn to maintain law and order, whereas more than Rs27bn will be spent on jail administration, and Rs1bn on civil defence services.
For the welfare of farmers, at least Rs26bn have been apportioned, while over Rs66bn have been earmarked for agricultural loans.
An amount of Rs37.96bn has been allocated for irrigation projects and Rs18.22bn for industrial development.
Likewise, Rs161bn will go to government buildings, Rs19bn to veterinary services, Rs1.6 bn to fisheries.
Funds allocated for museums and provision of justice were also approved by the assembly, alongwith grants for registration, stamps, motor vehicle acts, and excise were also approved.
Four bills tabled
Minister Rehman also tabled four important bills in the house: the Punjab Autism School and Resource Centre Bill 2025, the Urban Immovable Property Tax Amendment Bill 2025, the Essential Commodities Price Control Amendment Bill 2025 and the Punjab Labour Courts Bill 2025. These bills were referred to the relevant standing committees, and the speaker requested a report within two months.
During the session, treasury member Saeed Akbar Niwani raised objections about serial numbers 35 and 41 in the demands for grants being identical.
He suggested that it would be better to combine them instead of having separate demands.
In response, Mr Rehman stated that this has always been the practice and that their PC-1 (Project Concept-1) are different.
He added that if the honourable member is suggesting combining them, he would inquire whether it is technically possible.
Earlier, the house proceedings started over four hours later than the scheduled time. Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan chaired the session.
At the outset of the session, treasury MPA Munawar Ghous erupted on a point of order, condemning the alleged illegal actions of the CCD. He stated that their former councillor was arrested by a CCD DSP, handcuffed, paraded through the market, humiliated, slapped, and had videos made of him. “People’s doors were knocked at and they were told to watch him and make his videos,” he asserted, calling it a violation of the Constitution.
The speaker said if a video clip had been made, it’s illegal and a violation of the high court’s orders and asked the minister for parliamentary affairs to look into this matter, terming it a bad precedent. Mr Rehman assured the chair that he would look into this matter at the earliest.
The speaker also called for disarming the people, saying one person’s enmity is terrifying entire villages. “My request to the minister for parliamentary affairs is to take this matter to the cabinet. Weapons in people’s hands are a cause of fear and terror. Murders are happening in the courts.”
The minister responded that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was already working on disarming the people and eliminating the culture of arms from society.
Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2025