LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi says the provincial house has taken the lead among all other elected houses in the country by enacting 16 laws since its inception eight months ago.

Talking to a delegation of Pildat here on Wednesday, he said the Punjab Assembly had so far passed 16 acts and thus its legislative work was more than any other provincial house as well as the parliament.

The delegation led by Ahmed Bilal Mehboob included young political workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the PPP, the JUI-F and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M).

The speaker, who is also a former chief minister of Punjab, recalled the pro-people steps taken during his tenure (2002-07), including Emergency Rescue Service 1122, free education up to matriculation, free books and uniforms, as well as free medicines at state-run hospital emergencies.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Assembly could not fulfil the legal obligation of completing its 40 standing committees by holding elections to their chairpersons slots.

Under the law, the parliamentary panels were to be completed within three months after the inception of the provincial house on Aug 16, 2018.

So far chairpersons of only 14 panels have been elected and the polling for other bodies is yet to be held.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2019