LAHORE, June 20: Punjab Finance Minister Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak said on Friday night the government would once again present the Finance Bill 2003-04 in the house after amending it in the light of the proposals made by the members.

He said the government would also follow the points raised by the members of the assembly about the budget during the next financial year, and form a policy to address the issues.

The minister was winding up the post-budget debate during the Punjab Assembly’s session.

The session was again boycotted by the opposition members despite declaration by their leaders that the dialogue between them and the government, which was offered by the law minister on Thursday, went on smoothly and moving towards a better result.

Law Minister Raja Basharat insisted that the opposition should take part in the debate, but its members walked out raising slogans “Go Musharraf Go.”

Before that PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah asked Speaker Afzal Sahi to adjourn the session till the opposition decided to take part in the budget debate for saving the treasury members from committing the ‘sin’ of only pampering the government for its budget.

He quoted a Hadith to make his point while the treasury members kept hooting. The opposition responded by saying “shame, shame.”

Two members of the opposition parties entered the house when Deputy Speaker Sardar Shaukat Mazari, who chaired the evening session, asked the finance minister to wind up the speech at 8:30pm, and pointed to short quorum.

Mr Mazari sought the opinion of the law minister, who in response beckoned the finance minister to cut short his speech before counting of members was started, foiling the last-ditch attempt by the opposition.

The finance minister said the CM had already promised to make necessary amendments to the finance bill in the light of the proposals by the members. The related motion had been received by the assembly secretariat, and the house would now consider the amended bill, he said.

Despite all efforts by the government, the budget could not be declared a final document and could be amended during the fiscal year, he said. The government could come up to the expectations of the people if the budget was amended after detailed considerations, he added.

He said the women members had demanded more funds for themselves, and the government was formulating a comprehensive policy in this regard.

This would help resolve many issues of the women in the province.

He said the government was planning to conduct development activities in the southern Punjab through development agencies. It had planned to construct roads and small dams, and provide drinking water there, he said.

According to the minister, the budget was democratic and it reflected the government’s focus on people’s welfare. The government did realize that the one-year budget could not help it improve all its priorities and that was why it planned to conduct development activities under a three-year plan. The budget 2003- 04 was the first step towards the goal, he said.

He thanked the treasury members for taking part in the budget debate and helping the government see the loopholes in it.

The finance minister said the government wanted the opposition also to take part in the debate, but it decided to keep away. The government would, nevertheless, continue to persuade the opposition to play its positive role in the democratic process.

Earlier, a number of treasury members, including the women MPAs, spoke on budget made suggestions to the government. They invariably praised the budget, the chief minister and the finance minister, but castigated the opposition for boycotting the session.

However, they pointed out that their respective constituencies had been neglected in the budget. Those from the southern Punjab especially complained of lack of funds for their areas.

Two members questioned the utility of establishing four universities in the central Punjab and suggested that the government should instead create centres of excellence so that the youth could get jobs through getting qualitative education. They also questioned the plan to establish an information technology university in Lahore.

Many members demanded clean drinking water in their areas. Responding to it, Environment Minister Makhdoom Ashfaq asked them to contact their respective local governments, which had been entrusted with the job under the devolution plan.

He said the chief minister was interested in development of the southern Punjab and the MPAs belonging to it would see this during the next three years.

In response to an objection raised by a member, Food Minister Chaudhry Iqbal said the amended agriculture income tax law which had raised the ceiling of the tax up to 12.509 acres would be applicable from the next crops.

Seasoned MPA Saeed Akbar Nivani regretted that the opposition was not taking part in the budget. The government and the opposition were a part and parcel of the democracy.

He regretted that democracy had always been eclipsed in the country and the present system should be allowed to function even if some sacrifices like that of the LFO were required to be made.

Mr Nivani said he was a member of the assembly since 1985 and had been seeing failure of every budget as far as implementation was concerned. The government should ensure effective implementation of its budget, he suggested.

Those who took part in the debate included Muzammil Abbas, Muhammad Rizwan, Sardar Mohsin Leghari, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Mirza Qurban Ali Shah, Zahid Sarfraz, Shazia Chand, Mrs Laila Maqsood, Dr Tasneem Rashid, Mrs Safia Javed Chaudhry, Ms Maharaja Tarin, Chaudhry Mukhtar Ali, Dr Muzaffar Ali Sheikh, Chaudhry Muhammad Azeem, Chaudhry Javed Ahmad, Haji Sarfraz Ahmad Khan and Ms Humaira Owais Zia.

The session was adjourned till Saturday morning by the deputy speaker.