Assembly wants Punjab House vacated from illegal occupants

LAHORE - Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal on Monday asked the Government to get Punjab House in Islamabad cleared from illegal occupants besides recovering unpaid charges from them.
The Speaker asked Law Minister, Rana Sana Ullah and Labour Minister Ashraf Sohna to get the illegally occupied rooms at Punjab House vacated and inform the House about the progress within three days.
Earlier, Punjab Minister for Law, Rana Sana Ullah told the House that some Senators, MNAs, MPAs, senior bureaucrats and a few army officers had got rooms allotted in their names, but were not vacating these despite expiry of the stipulated period.
He said as per govt’s policy, rooms at Punjab House were primarily meant for MNAs and MPAs and were allotted to them on first come first serve basis initially for a period of three days only. They have to pay charges for these rooms if they extend their stay beyond three days, he added. Rana said rooms might be allotted to other persons subject to availability and on payment of rent.
The Speaker’s ruling came on a point of order raised by Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz who complained that MPAs from Punjab were facing problems in getting rooms at Punjab House, which had been occupied by illegal occupants. He asked the chair to constitute a House Committee to probe the matter.
Many legislators supported Raja’s contention and demanded action against the illegal occupants.
The PPP’s Nazim Hussain Shah suggested that the proposed House Committee should be headed by the Speaker himself given sensitivity of the matter. Labour Minister Ashraf Sohna called for an inquiry and strict action against the illegal occupants. He demanded that all those who are not entitled to get rooms at Punjab House should be expelled within three days irrespective of their official status.