LAHORE: The ruling party legislator Sheikh Allauddin demanded revisiting the proposed allocations and providing enough resources for eunuchs, the most neglected segment of the society.

Speaking at the Punjab Assembly during budget debate on Tuesday, he urged the Punjab Chief Minister to intervene and ensure proper allocation for eunuchs.

The proceedings started one hour beyond the scheduled time with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the chair.

Taking part in the debate, Sheikh Allauddin pointed out that not a single penny has been allocated for eunuchs. He said that eunuchs should not be ignored as they were also part of the society.

“Eunuchs can be deputed for tax collection. They can perform better than men”, he said.

He also questioned role of standing committee on finance in formulation of budget. He said that all the standing committees gave budget proposals in January but these were also scrutinized. He said that stay orders on development schemes were causing loss of billions of rupees. He suggested closing business centres at 7pm. He said that luxury tax should be imposed on community not closing business at 7pm. He said that it was impossible to continue business while paying such heavy taxes. He said that taxes should be imposed after due consultations with stakeholders.

PML-Q’s Khadeeja Umar said that those boosting about breaking begging bowels have taken more spacious ones. She said that that the province was under the burden of Rs900 billion and people were paying Rs124 billion interest annually. She said that circular debt during Pervaqiz Elahi regime was only Rs100 billion. She said that inefficiency was the major issue. She said that it was pity that more than 50 per cent allocation for education, health and development projects remained unutilized. She said that the opposition patiently listened flattery speeches of ruling party legislators but they were not ready to listen the reality.

The ruling party legislator Javed Akhtar said that the government needed to wage war against corruption and thana culture. He said that the road infrastructure was deteriorating due to improper cleanliness. He urged early completion of water supply schemes. He thanked Punjab CM for allocating Rs175 billion for South Punjab.

Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora said that no funds have been allocated for preserving historical and religious sites of Sikhs. He urged the government to ensure sufficient allocation for these sites of historical importance.

Nadia Aziz urged the government to withdraw tax on empty plots and increase in DC rates.

Iffat Meraj said that Rs100 billion kissan package would help redressing losses of crops. She urged completing Boys Degree College in Sargodha during coming fiscal year.

Samina Noor supported Metro Bus and Orange Line Train projects, sating these projects would add to the beauty of Lahore. She suggested using abandoned buildings of schools for vocational institutes for women.

Nabeera Andleeb suggested increasing Police strength and number of police stations for improving law and order situation. She also suggested inclusion of seerat in syllabus.

Khalid Ghani urged immediate establishment of University in Jhang.

After completion of agenda, the chair adjourned the session till Wednesday morning.