LAHORE              -               In the wake of covid-19 pandemic, Punjab government has created a designated online portal for the Punjab Assembly members to seek their suggestions and schemes for the provincial budget 2020-21.  The portal named ‘Aap Ki Rai’ has been created in order to maintain the social distancing in the wake of covid-19 while all members of Punjab assembly will have access to the portal with their passwords and logins to submit their recommendations for the budget.  As per past practice, the government holds pre-budget discussion in Punjab Assembly before preparation of the budget to include their schemes, suggestions and recommendations. Chairing a review meeting of provincial budget on Tuesday, Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht disclosed that the new portal had been created with ‘budget2021.punjab.gov.pk’. He said the budget preparation was an important component and responsibility of the government and could not be completed without inclusions of the stakeholders, public representatives and elected members of the assembly. He said, despite delay in assembly session due to coronavirus pandemic, the pre-budget session and discussions were underway. The minister said the portal was user-friendly while the member parliamentarians could send their suggestions in simplified method to the Punjab finance department in two weeks time. The finance department would present these suggestions and recommendations to the cabinet for the approval, he said, adding that the members could send their suggestions through simple survey from their logins.