Updated: Wednesday February 11, 2015/AlArbia'a
Rabi' Thani 22, 1436/Budhavara
Magha 22, 1936, at 10:33:39 PM
The
(VII OF 2015)
[27th January, 2015]
AN
ORDINANCE
to provide for the establishment of the
Punjab Social Protection Authority.
Whereas it is expedient to establish the Punjab
Social Protection Authority to provide a comprehensive, efficient, effective
and gender-equitable social protection system to the poor and vulnerable in the
Punjab; and to deal with ancillary matters;
And whereas Provincial Assembly of the
Punjab is not in session and Governor of the
Now therefore, in exercise of the powers
conferred under clause (1) of Article 128 of the Constitution of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan, Governor of the Punjab is pleased to make and promulgate
the following Ordinance:---
1. Short title and commencement.– (1) This Ordinance may be cited as the Punjab
Social Protection Authority Ordinance 2015.
(2) It shall extend to whole of the
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.– In this Ordinance:---
(a) “Authority” means Punjab Social
Protection Authority established under section 3 of the Ordinance;
(b) “Chairperson” means Chairperson of the
Authority;
(c) “Chief Executive Officer” means Chief
Executive Officer of the Authority;
(d) “Government” means Government of the
(e) “member” means a member of the
Authority;
(f) “poor” means an individual or household
who or which is living below poverty line;
(g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules
or regulations made under the Ordinance;
(h) “social protection” means all public and
private initiatives that provide income or consumption transfers to the poor,
protect the vulnerable against livelihood risks, and enhance the social status
and rights of the marginalized with the overall objective of reducing the
economic and social vulnerability of poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups;
(i) “Vice Chairperson” means Vice
Chairperson of the Authority; and
(j) “vulnerable” means a state in which an
individual or household lack capacity to combat the impact of adverse shocks
pushing any household into poverty and poor into deeper poverty.
3. Establishment of the Authority.– (1) The Government shall establish the Authority
to be called the Punjab Social Protection Authority for carrying out the purposes
of this Ordinance.
(2) The Authority shall be a body corporate
having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and
dispose of property and shall by the said name sue and be sued.
(3) The Authority shall consist of the
following:---
(a) Chief Minister,
(b) Vice Chairperson of the Authority to be
nominated by the Government;
(c) Minister for Food; Member
(d) Minister for Health; Member
(e) Additional Chief Secretary of the Government;
Member
(f) Chairman, Planning & Development Board
of the Government; Member
(g) Secretary to the Government, Finance
Department or his nominee not below the rank of an Additional Secretary; Member
(h) Secretary to the Government, Social Welfare
and Bait-ul-Maal Department or his nominee not below the rank of an Additional Secretary;
Member
(i) Secretary to the Government, Industries
Department or his nominee not below the rank of an Additional Secretary; Member
(j) Secretary to the Government, Zakat and
Ushr Department or his nominee not below the rank of an Additional Secretary; Member
(k) Secretary to the Government, Labour and
Human Resource Department or his nominee not
below the rank of an Additional Secretary; Member
(l) Secretary to the Government, Women Development
Department or his Member nominee not below the rank of an Additional
Secretary;
(m) four members of the Provincial Assembly
of the
(n) two representatives of civil society organizations
to be nominated by the Government; and Members
(o) Chief Executive Officer. Member/Secretary
(4) In the absence of Chairperson, the Vice
Chairperson shall exercise all powers of the Chairperson.
(5) The Chairperson or the Government may
co-opt any other person as a member of the Authority for a specified period or
for a specified purpose.
(6) The tenure of the non-official members
including Vice Chairperson shall be for three years extendable for another one
year.
(7) No act or proceeding of the Authority
shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy or defect in the constitution
of the Authority.
4. Qualifications of non-official members.– A person shall be eligible to be a non-official
member who:---
(a) is a citizen of
(b) has not been convicted by a court on
charge of corrupt practice, moral turpitude or misuse of power or authority
under any law;
(c) is not an undischarged insolvent; and
(d) does not have a financial interest in
any scheme or a conflicting interest, directly or indirectly, between his
interests as a member and his private interests.
5. Removal of non-official members.– The Government may remove a non-official
member if he:---
(a) ceases to be a citizen of
(b) resigns by tendering resignation in
writing;
(c) is declared by the court as an insane
person;
(d) is found guilty of misconduct;
(e) is convicted and sentenced to
imprisonment; or
(f) is not fit to serve as a member.
6. Functions of the Authority.– The Authority shall perform the following
functions:---
(a) to formulate social protection policy
for the
(b) to consolidate and coordinate all public
social protection initiatives through policy framework for each sector
including Federal Government’s initiatives;
(c) to formulate policies and propose
legislation for the welfare and benefit of the poor and vulnerable;
(d) to formulate policies for the protection
of legal rights of poor and vulnerable;
(e) to ensure equitable allocation of
resources in line with carefully identified objectives;
(f) to prepare, store and disseminate data
regarding eligible poor and vulnerable under various categories of poverty;
(g) to evaluate performance of social sector
programs;
(h) to determine eligibility criteria for
assistance under social protection programs;
(i) to formulate policies for effective and
efficient mechanisms for relevant agencies and to evaluate performance of such
agencies;
(j) to formulate and execute policies for
social protection which may include food, education, health, social assistance,
social inclusion, labour market regulations and policy risks;
(k) to conduct research and formulate
proposals for new intervention into the existing social protection program and
execute the same;
(l) to prepare strategic reports that set
out policies over a specified period to meet the targets for social protection;
(m) to compile a set of common indicators
which show how progress towards the goals of social protection is achieved;
(n) to notify criteria for the eligibility
of poor and vulnerable for financial assistance;
(o) to notify procedure for the
identification of the marginalized groups;
(p) to notify the disbursement procedures of
the social interventions for each department or agency;
(q) to approve the budget of the Authority
and to re-appropriate funds;
(r) to evaluate and monitor the
implementation of the decisions of the Authority;
(s) formulate policies and execute social
protection program policies for provincial social safety network, which may
include food, education, health, social assistance, social inclusion, labour
market regulations and policy risks;
(t) monitoring of existing program;
(u) develop social protection framework for
each region;
(v) establish legal and social protection center
in a region; and
(w) any other function assigned to the
Authority by the Government.
7. Meetings.– (1) The Authority shall meet at least
once in a quarter, at such place and at such time and shall observe such
procedure in regard to transaction of business at its meetings as may be
prescribed.
(2) The meetings of the Authority shall be
presided over by the Chairperson and, in the absence of the Chairperson, by
Vice Chairperson and in case of absence of both, a member of the Authority
elected for the purpose by the members present in the meeting.
(3) The quorum for a meeting of the
Authority shall be one third of the total number of members including at least
two non-official members.
8. Committees.– (1) The Authority may constitute Social
Protection Coordination Committee consisting of such members as the Authority
may notify.
(2) The Social Protection Coordination
Committee shall coordinate with the Federal Government or other agencies for
functional linkage between the Federal and Provincial Government initiatives in
various social sectors and the Committee shall supervise and oversee any joint
ventures or mutually identified programs.
(3) The Authority may constitute committees
such as financial, technical and advisory committees as may be deemed necessary
for carrying out the purposes of this Ordinance and such committees shall
exercise such powers and perform such functions as may be delegated or assigned
to them by the Authority.
9. Chief Executive Officer.– (1) There shall be a Chief Executive
Officer and a Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Authority to be appointed
by the Government.
(2) The Chief Executive Officer shall:---
(a) be the head of the management and
Principal Accounting Officer of the Authority and shall act as Secretary to the
Authority;
(b) be responsible to the Authority for
implementation of the decisions of the Authority;
(c) be responsible to the Authority in
respect of all matters relating to the structure, administration and personnel
of the Authority; and
(d) have such powers regarding appointment,
transfer, promotion, dismissal and other matters affecting the staff of the
Authority as may be prescribed in the regulations or as may be delegated by the
Authority.
(3) The Deputy Chief Executive Officer shall
perform the duties of the Chief Executive Officer when the latter is absent or
is prevented from acting, and the Chief Executive Officer may assign to the
Deputy Chief Executive Officer the responsibility for the direction of certain
services or delegate to him any of his own powers under this Ordinance, the
rules and the regulations.
10. Delegation.– The Authority may, subject to such
conditions as the Authority may deem appropriate, delegate to the Chief
Executive Officer , a committee constituted under section 8, an agency, a
member or an officer of the Authority, any of its functions under
this Ordinance or the rules except the functions of the Authority provided in
clauses (g), (j), (l) and (m) of section 6 and also provided in sections 17, 19
and 22.
11. Appointment of officers and employees.– Subject to the prior approval from the
Authority, the Chief Executive Officer may appoint such officers, advisors, experts,
consultants and employees, as he considers necessary for the efficient performance
of functions of the Authority on such terms and conditions as the Authority
deems fit in the prescribed manner.
12. Public servants.– The Chief Executive Officer , Deputy Chief
Executive Officer and other employees of the Authority shall be deemed to be
public servants.
13. Liability for loss.– Any person employed by or serving under
the Authority charged with the administration of the affairs of the Authority
or acting on behalf of the Authority or acting under a contract with the
Authority who is responsible for the loss, waste, misappropriation or
misapplication of any money or property belonging to the Authority which is a
direct consequence of his negligence or misconduct in the discharge of his
duties shall be liable to pay the loss suffered by the Authority on the same
being determined by the Authority after giving the person concerned a
reasonable opportunity of being heard.
14. Directions by the Government.– The Authority shall, in discharging its functions,
act and be guided by such directions as the Government may give to it.
15. Transfer of functions.– Where the Authority ceases to perform a
function and another organization controlled by the Government assumes that
function, or the Authority assumes a function previously performed by another
organization controlled by the Government ceases to perform, the Government may
direct that:---
(a) in case another organization assumes any
of the functions of Authority, the employees of the Authority connected with
that function shall become servants of the said organization on such terms and
conditions as the said organization may determine, subject to the condition
that the said terms and conditions are not less favourable than those admissible
to them as employees of the Authority;
(b) in case Authority assumes the functions
of another Government controlled organization, the servants of that
organization connected with that function may become the employees of the
Authority on terms and conditions that the Authority may determine, subject to
the condition that the said terms and conditions shall not be less favourable
than those admissible to them as servants of that organization; and
(c) such part of the funds of the Authority
or the organization, as the Government may determine, shall stand transferred
to the said organization or the Authority.
16. Fund.– (1) There shall be established a Fund to be known as the Social Protection
Authority Fund which shall vest in the Authority and shall be utilized in such
manner as may be prescribed by the Authority.
(2) The Social Protection Authority Fund
shall consist of:---
(a) grants made by the Government;
(b) moneys received from the Federal
Government or any agency by way of grants;
(c) donations by persons or association of
persons;
(d) Zakat;
(e) social protection cess on transfer of
property and purchase of land; and
(f) all other sums as may be received by the
Authority.
17. Budget.– The Chief Executive Officer shall prepare annual budget comprising the
expected income and expense for the ensuing financial year and submit it to the
Authority, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, for approval.
18. Accounts and audit.– (1) The Authority shall maintain proper
accounts and other records relating to its financial affairs including its
income and expenditure and its assets and liabilities in such form and manner
as may be prescribed.
(2) After the end of a financial year, the
Authority shall prepare the statements of account which shall include a
balance-sheet and an account of income and expenditure during the last
financial year.
(3) The Auditor General of
(4) The Chairperson, in addition to the
audit under subsection (3), may cause the accounts of the Authority annually
audited by a Chartered Accountant or a firm of Chartered Accountants.
(5) The Authority shall produce all books of
accounts and documents and furnish such explanation and information as the
Auditor may require for the purposes of audit.
19. Annual report.– The Authority shall prepare for every
year a report of its activities during that year and submit the report to the
Provincial Assembly after its approval from the Chief Minister Punjab.
20. Immunity of the Authority and its
employees.– No suit,
prosecution or any other legal proceedings shall lie against the Authority, the
Chairperson, the Chief Executive Officer , any member, officer, servant, expert
or consultant of the Authority, in respect of anything done or intended to be
done in good faith under this Ordinance.
21. Power to make rules.– The Government may, by notification in
the official Gazette, make rules for carrying into effect the purposes of this Ordinance.
22. Power to make regulations.– Subject to the Ordinance and the rules,
the Authority may, by notification in the official Gazette, make regulations
for giving effect to the provisions of this Ordinance.
23. Ordinance to prevail over other laws.– In the event of any conflict or inconsistency
between the provision of this Ordinance and the provision of any other law, the
provision of the Ordinance shall, to the extent of such conflict or inconsistency,
prevail.
24. Repeal and savings.– (1) The Punjab Social Services Board
Ordinance, 1970 (II of 1970) is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Punjab
Social Services Board Ordinance, 1970 (II of 1970):---
(a) any
action taken or order or appointment made under the repealed Ordinance shall be
deemed to have been taken or made under this Ordinance;
(b) all rights, properties, assets or
liabilities of the Punjab Social Services Board established under the repealed
Ordinance shall stand transferred to the Authority; and
(c) all employees of the Punjab Social
Services Board established under the repealed Ordinance shall be deemed to be
the employees of the Authority but their terms and conditions of employment in
the Authority shall not be less favourable than those as employees of the
Punjab Social Services Board.
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