LAHORE The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed two bills the Punjab Food Authority Act 2011 and the Lahore Ring Road Authority Act 2011 after the Opposition, mainly the Q-League withdrew all proposed amendments. The Q-League legislators, mainly vocal ladies led by their parliamentary leader Ch Zaheer-ud-Din, only pressed for circulating the bills with the purpose of eliciting opinion and later for sending the drafts to select committees for further deliberation to make the legislation more effective and public friendly. The treasury, however, managed to get both the bills passed with majority vote after passing the only hurdle created by the Opposition by pointing quorum. The treasury managed to maintain quorum by bringing disinterested legislators back to the House within five months after Deputy Speaker Rana Mashood Ahmed asked for ringing bells. The Food Authority will be a body corporate consisting of a Chairperson and 17 members. The government will appoint the Chairperson while the members include the secretaries Food, Health, Livestock and Dairy Development, Public Health Engineering and Local Government and Community Development departments, three MPAs to be appointed by the government, two eminent food technologists or scientists, one representative of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, two representatives each from farmers and consumers organizations, one representative each from food operators and food industry. This law has been enacted keeping in view ever increasing adulteration in food items that is causing serious health hazards. Various serious and fatal diseases like hepatitis and cancer are spreading due to adulteration of food especially in milk, beverages, ghee, cooking oil and spices. It is a great challenge for the Government to check, monitor and reduce the adulteration in food items. At present, different departments are responsible for dealing with food safety issues due to which the task is not being performed in a coherent and integrated manner. The Lahore Ring Road Authority Act 2011 envisages establishment of a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with headquarters in Lahore. The Authority will manage ring roads not only in Lahore but also in other cities. The Government will appoint the chairperson who will be the chief executive of the Authority and will exercise such powers and functions as the Council may specify. The Authority will plan, promote, organise, re-organise and implement programmes for construction, development, operation, repairs, security and maintenance of the LRR and the strategic roads. Chief Minister Punjab will be the President of the Council while other members will be Chairman Planning and development Board, Secretary Finance, Secretary Communication and Works, a professional in the field of highways construction and management, a chartered accountant and Chairperson of the Authority who will also be secretary.