PA finally passes Emergency Services (Amendment) Bill.

Byline: Amjad Mahmood

LAHORE -- The Punjab Assembly finally passed the Punjab Emergency Services (Amendment) Bill 2021 moved by a private member here on Tuesday as Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi put his foot down and ruled out objections by the law minister.

The bill makes the Rescue 1122 an independent entity, granting its director general the powers of a provincial secretary.

It also prescribes posting of emergency officers at divisional and district levels, promoting the employees to next grades on the basis of their past performance, physical fitness and completing promotion course(s).

Under the amended law, the provincial law minister can convene a meeting of the Punjab Emergency Council.

The bill had earlier been taken up in the last private members' day (on Feb 23). But Law Minister Basharat Raja had then opposed it arguing that no private member can move a bill that involves finances of the provincial government.

He, however, had promised to come up with a similar bill of the government in the next session that began last Thursday. The minister didn't keep his word and argued that the document needed to be approved by the provincial cabinet, requiring more time. An irritated speaker, who had instituted the Rescue 1122 during his term as the chief minister (2002-07) and wished to further improve the...