Lahore, June 29, 2011: �Government of the Punjab wishes to strengthen and empower the Parliamentary Committee System in the Punjab Assembly, especially in relation to scrutinising budget,� said Honourable Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, MPA, Speaker Provincial Assembly of the Punjab at the PILDAT organized Consultative session on Increased Role of the Assembly Committees especially in the Provincial Budget Process held for the Council of Chairmen, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab at the Assembly secretariat on June 27, 2011. He thanked PILDAT for organising and facilitating the meeting and for sharing comparative information and proposed amendments in the rules and announced that another meeting of committee chairs, secretariat, Law and Finance Ministriesof the Punjab will be organised at the end of the on-going budget session to further consider these proposed amendments.

Earlier, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director, PILDAT, gave a presentation to the Honourable Chairpersons of Punjab Assembly Committees on the need for creating a role of the committees in the budget process. He shared comparisons of the budget processes operational in the Indian and the Canadian Parliaments as well as the State Legislature of Ontario in Canada and the Indian States of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. He concluded with the recommendations that the Punjab Assembly should consider:

1. Amending its Rules of Procedure to provide a role for the Standing Committees to review ministerial demands for grants once the budget is presented and prepare reports by a specified period and table those reports in the House. The debate on budget should resume in the light of reports by Committees; and
2. Increasing the budget session period from existing 11-13 days to at least 30 to 45 days. This would require budget to be presented to the House in May every year so as to conclude the budget session before June 30.

Endorsing the recommendations of PILDAT, various committee chairs belonging to various political parties said that the Punjab Assembly should move swiftly to introduce these changes. Mr. Ifthikhar Ali, MPA (PPPP; PP-266), Chairperson for the Co-operatives Committee, said that the committees and the concerned departments should work altogether, regardless of their inner differences. Mr. Hafiz Mian Muhammad Nauman, MPA (PML-N, PP-148), Chairperson Excise and Taxation Committee, praised the sharing of comparative information about the Canadian and Indian legislatures and said that India offered the most relevant model for Pakistan. He advocated that committees in the Assembly should have similar powers as in the Parliament of Pakistan to consider any aspect of the related department without an issue being referred to the committees by the House. Mr. Mohsin Khan Leghari, MPA, (PML, PP-245) said that the vast chunk of supplementary budget that is presented to the House for post-facto approval violates the legislative principle of control over the purse. Instead departments should seek respective committees� approval for supplementary budget as and when needed. Analysis of supplementary budget also reveals that budgetary planning is not up to the mark therefore expenditures that should be budgeted for in annual budget land into the supplementary budget unnecessarily. He also said that committee meetings are not held because of lack of availability of sufficient meeting rooms in the Assembly whereas the Committees can meet utilising the linked or concerned department�s office or building. Mr. Muhammad Tariq Amin Hotyana, MPA (PPPP, PP-278), Chairperson Information Technology Committee, said that the Committees should be empowered to carry out their role of oversight effectively and any impediments in rules in this regard should be done away with. He said that in his view, Committees should have the power and authority to take �Suo-Motu� actions in the light of powers of Parliamentary Committees in Pakistan.

Secretary Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Dr. Maqsood Ahmad Malik, alongside senior secretariat staff of the Assembly also took part in the consultative session.

PILDAT prepared and disseminated a Working Paper at the Consultative Session for the benefit of Committee Chairmen: Proposal for Increased Role Provincial Assembly of the Punjab & its Committees in the Provincial Budget Process.

The Working Paper was prepared and the Consultative Session was organised by PILDAT under the project Parliamentary and Political Party Strengthening-II which is funded through Canada�s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade � DFAIT. The project is implemented jointly by the Parliamentary Centre, Canada and PILDAT.