Punjab Assembly Approves Rs554bn Supplementary Budget Grants

The Punjab Assembly approved 38 supplementary budget grants worth more than Rs554 billion in Lahore, clearing major additional spending for fiscal year 2025-26 after a tense session dominated by political confrontation. The proceedings, held on Monday under Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, drew sharp exchanges between treasury and opposition lawmakers over how public money had been allocated across the province.

The session began about two hours later than scheduled and quickly turned into a wider debate on Punjab’s development priorities. Lawmakers discussed regional funding, public transport, water shortages, sewage schemes and infrastructure gaps, with the opposition accusing the provincial government of failing to address long-standing grievances in several districts.

Opposition members including Hafiz Farhat Abbas, Zulfiqar Bhatti, Sheikh Imtiaz and Nadeem Qureshi challenged the treasury benches during the debate. They alleged that development funds had not been distributed fairly and claimed that south Punjab, particularly Multan, continued to face neglect despite repeated political promises of balanced growth and better service delivery.

Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb defended the government’s record, saying the administration led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had delivered major welfare and infrastructure initiatives during its tenure. She pointed to the completion of 170,000 housing units over the past 14 months as an example of the government’s performance and rejected opposition criticism as politically driven.

The senior minister also outlined the province’s public transport and civic infrastructure plans. She said 3,000 electric buses would be introduced across Punjab by next year, with the fleet expected to expand to 5,000 by the end of the government’s term. She added that clean water and sewerage schemes were under way in 86 cities, while Rs42 billion had been set aside for water projects in south Punjab.

The debate became more heated when the opposition pointed out a lack of quorum, briefly disrupting the proceedings. After the required number of lawmakers was restored, the sitting continued, but tensions rose again when opposition members objected to what they described as inadequate time to speak. The opposition later walked out of the session in protest.

With opposition lawmakers absent from the chamber, the assembly proceeded to vote on the supplementary demands and approved all 38 grants. The passage of the funds gives the provincial government formal legislative cover for additional expenditure, while also intensifying questions over transparency, regional priorities and the political management of budgetary decisions.

After the grants were approved, Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman announced a four-month honorary salary bonus for employees of the Punjab Assembly, the Law Department, 90 Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam and other allied departments. The announcement added another layer to the fiscal debate, as government employees and administrative bodies remain a major part of provincial expenditure.

Supplementary grants are often used to regularise spending beyond original budget estimates, but they also attract scrutiny because they reflect pressures that emerge during the financial year. In Punjab, the latest approval comes at a time when the government is seeking to project administrative delivery while the opposition is trying to build pressure over alleged unequal development.

The political fallout from the session is likely to continue when the assembly reconvenes on Tuesday at 1pm. The government will frame the approval as a step toward continuity in public projects, while the opposition is expected to keep pressing its case over fiscal accountability, south Punjab’s share and the broader direction of provincial spending.