LAHORE   -  The Punjab Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution about the mandatory recitation of the Holy Quran in schools during the assembly hour.  

It has been stated in the resolution that recitation of the Holy Quran and Darood Sharif should be mandatory in all public and private schools in the assembly prior to the national anthem. Prayers should also be offered for the progress and safety of the motherland; it further reads. 

 The resolution, moved by PML-Q’s Khadija Umer, was unanimously adopted  by the Assembly.  Earlier, the session started under the chairmanship of Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Parvez Elahi with a delay of three hours and 20 minutes. The Speaker adjourned the Question Hour in the middle for unsatisfactory answers given by the Parliamentary Secretary for Excise & Taxation and Drugs Elimination Department.  Ch Parvez Elahi also showed his concern over unrestricted availability of narcotics in the education institutions and called for an effective strategy to control this menace. 

The speaker told the law minister that drugs were being sold openly in the schools, colleges and the universities and the government was not taking any action. He noted that the issue of drugs was very important, and it should be taken seriously by the government. He also desired that a clear policy to address this problem should be formulated. “What measures the government is taking for the elimination of drugs from the educational institutions?”, he asked. 

The speaker further stated that the federal and provincial governments should take joint actions for narcotics control in the province. Responding to the speaker’s assertions., Law Minister Mohammad Basharat Raja told the chair that a separate directorate was being created for elimination of drugs from the schools. He said police also acted against the drug peddlers.