LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday introduced “The Punjab Prohibition of Sheesha Smoking Bill 2014”, adopted four public welfare resolutions and pended one.

The treasury rejected a pending resolution regarding provision of free space for graves in the province.

Meanwhile, the journalists’ community, led by the Press Gallery Committee, boycotted the coverage of the session for some time against the termination of a number of journalists by the media networks without assigning any reason.

The treasury benches rejected a pending resolution, tabled by PTI’s Saadia Sohail Rana, that the Punjab government should ensure provision of free space for graves across the province. Raising slogans of “shame, shame” for quite sometime, the opposition members said the people of Lahore in particular and of Punjab in general would know that the government had refused to adopt a public welfare resolution.

While tabling the resolution, Saadia Sohail produced payment receipts for the provision of graves in the city. She said some Rs20,000 and Rs7,000 were being charged for cemented and non-cemented graves, respectively.

Opposition leader Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed also presented some receipts issued as grave provision charges to the law minister. He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, on January 21, 2013, had announced the release of Rs1 billion for the provision of 2,000-kanal for 10 graveyards in the province. He also called upon the speaker to constitute a committee, comprising both treasury and opposition members, to thrash out the issue.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the government was providing free-of-cost land for graveyards in 95pc cases and the government did not charge a single penny from anybody. He said the government had also ensured that even private societies should allocate space for graveyards just like roads and parks.

Mr Sanaullah said the receipts produced were issued by unregistered committees formed by the notables in different areas, including Allama Iqbal Town. He said such committees used that income for the management and upkeep of the graveyards. He said that he would issue directions to police to register cases against the notables in the area besides ordering the police across Punjab that they should register complaints against those who would stop people from burying their dead on the pretext of charges. He suggested that the PTI should withdraw its resolution.

PTI’s Dr Murad Rass said the real issue was the provision of land for graveyards and added that the charges were a petty issue. The PTI members said they would not withdraw this resolution and the speaker should put it before the house for voting.

As the resolution was put forth, the treasury rejected it with a majority vote that drew slogans against it.

The house adopted a resolution, presented by Sheikh Ijaz Ahmad, seeking imposition of ban on production, import and sale of toy weapons to discourage a trend of using arms and ammunition by children. He said the sport was creating aggression and violence among children and they were also tempted to use real arms. In some incidents, he said, some children had used real arms that turned out to be fatal. Upon voting, the resolution was approved unanimously.

Similarly, the PA also adopted a resolution, tabled by PTI’s Dr Nosheen Hamid, regarding setting up of lady police stations in all the districts or separate rooms for women in existing police stations as a stopgap arrangement.

Two more public welfare resolutions tabled by PML-N’s Azma Zahid Bukhari and Nighat Sheikh about inclusion of human rights concept in the curricula and setting up of book streets in line with food streets, respectively, were also adopted by the house. Only PML-N’s Mian Naseer opposed both the resolutions. The speaker, however, did not allow him to explain that why he had opposed both the resolutions.

The PA pended a resolution tabled by PML-Q’s Ahmad Shah Khagga regarding fake advertisements by private residential schemes.

Earlier, the house discussed sacking of journalists by TV channels. Responding to allegation that he was a partner in a news channel that sacked a number journalists, the PTI’s Mian Aslam Iqbal said the government should introduce legislation to check the newspapers and TV channels’ owners from sacking journalists and other employees.

“The PTI and I will support the government in this endeavour,” he asserted.