LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly convened on Tuesday over an hour behind schedule and moved swiftly through a packed legislative agenda, introducing multiple university bills and passing resolutions aimed at tightening mental health practitioner regulation and mandating surveillance cameras in school transport.
The session, chaired by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, also witnessed sharp exchanges between lawmakers and a forceful demand for the return of minority-run educational institutions.
Parliamentary affairs minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman introduced the University of Hafizabad Bill 2026, which was referred to committee alongside the Akhtar Saeed University Bill 2026, tabled by government member Iftikhar Chhachhar. The Gotham Global Institute Lahore Bill 2026, presented by Mian Muhammad Munir, was passed by the House outright.
A motion from government member Aamira Khan, calling for mandatory registration and licensing of clinical psychologists, passed with a majority. The resolution warned that the absence of a regulatory framework had allowed unqualified individuals to practice, leading to misdiagnosis, unscientific treatments, and harm to vulnerable patients, particularly children and women. Members urged the federal government to enact dedicated legislation.
A separate resolution from Maria Talal, passed by the House, recommended that all public and private school vehicles in Punjab be fitted with surveillance cameras to enhance child safety. Another resolution, moved by PML-N chief whip Rana Muhammad Arshad, successfully petitioned for Government Graduate College Shahkot in Nankana Sahib to be designated a university sub-campus, noting that students, especially women, faced severe hardship commuting roughly 75 kilometres for higher education.
Earlier, Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan held a press conference hailing Pakistan’s success in Operation Bunyan-ul-Marsoos as a historic triumph of national unity, and announced a special assembly session to adopt a unanimous tribute resolution.
Government lawmaker Philbus Christopher delivered an impassioned speech demanding the return of Christian educational institutions, including Garden College Rawalpindi and Saint Francis College Anarkali, alleging that under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s policies, religious instruction was supplanting ethics and minority students were being compelled to study religious texts. Fellow MPA Emmanuel Athar endorsed the demand, citing deteriorating facilities since nationalisation. Parliamentary Secretary Nosheen Adnan assured the House that a human rights committee would finalise work on the return of institutions within a month, though Christopher objected that institutions without pending litigation were also being withheld.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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