PUNJAB SOCIAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY ACT 2015

Exact source transcription retained, including print layout and extraction artifacts. Text SHA-256: c2d84971c776f6a3e79bdc79a6d6d72bb8e3a4e19024571aadd957e924ccf0dd.

THE PUNJAB SOCIAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY ACT 
2015 
(XXII of 2015) 
CONTENTS 
1. Short title, extent and commencement 
2. Definitions 
3. Establishment of the Authority 
4. Qualifications of non-official members 
5. Removal of non-official members 
6. Functions of the Authority 
7. Meetings 
8. Committees 
9. Chief Executive Officer 
10. Delegation 
11. Appointment of officers and employees 
12. Public servants 
13. Liability for loss 
14. Directions by the Government 
15. Transfer of functions 
16. Fund 
17. Budget 
18. Accounts and audit 
19. Annual report 
20. Immunity of the Authority and its employees 
21. Power to make rules 
22. Power to make regulations 
23. Act to prevail over other laws 
24. Obligation to produce documents and provide information 
25. Repeal and savings 
26. Repeal 
TEXT 
1
THE PUNJAB SOCIAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY ACT 2015  
(XXII of 2015) 
[14th April, 2015] 
An 
Act 
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 inclusive social protection system to 
the poor and vulnerable in the Punjab; and to deal with ancillary matters; 
It is enacted as follows:– 
1. Short title, extent and commencement.– (1) This Act may be cited as the  
Punjab Social Protection Authority Act 2015. 
(2) It shall extend to whole of the Punjab. 
(3) It shall come into force at once. 
2. Definitions.– In this Act: 
(a) "Auditor" includes Chartered Accountant appointed to conduct an audit 
under section 18 of the Act; 
(b) “Authority” means the Punjab Social Protection Authority established 
under section 3 of the Act; 
(c) “Chairperson” means Chairperson of the Authority; 
(d) “Chief Executive Officer” means Chief Executive Officer of the 
Authority; 
(e) “Government” means Government of the Punjab;  
(f) “member” means a member of the Authority; 
(g) “poor 
2
[”] means an individual or household who or which is living below 
poverty line as may be determined by  the Authority; 
(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules or regulations made under the 
Act; 
(i) "region" means an area designated as region by the Authority under 
section 6 of the Act; 
(j) “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;  
                                                 
1This Act was passed by the Punjab Assembly on 6th April 2015; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab on 10th April 2015; 
and was published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 14th April 2015, Pages 4733-4739. 
2Misprinted in the Gazette as “hyphen”. 
(k) “Vice Chairperson” means Vice Chairperson of the Authority; and 
(l) “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 Act. 
(2) The Authority shall be a body corp orate, 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, Punjab; Chairperson 
(b) a person who holds  at least a master’s 
degree recognized by Higher Education 
Commission with at least five years’ 
experience in social sector, to be 
nominated by the Chairperson; 
Vice Chairperson 
(c) Minister for Food; Member 
(d) Minister for Health; Member 
(e) Additional Chief Secr etary 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, Zak at 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 Governmen t, Women 
Development Department or his nominee 
Member 
not below the rank of an Additional 
Secretary; 
(m) six members of the Provincial Assembly of 
the Punjab including at least two female 
members of the Assembly  to be nominated 
by the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly;    
Members 
(n) six 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 in his absence, the Vice Chairperson 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 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 eli gible to be a 
non-official member who: 
(a) is a citizen of Pakistan and is not less than twenty five years of age; 
(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;  
(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; and 
(e) has at least five years of experience in social sector.  
5. Removal of non -official members .– The Government may remove a  non-
official member if he: 
(a) ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan; or 
(b) resigns by tendering resignation in writing; or 
(c) is declared by the court as an insane person; or 
(d) is found guilty of misconduct; or 
(e) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. 
6. Functions of the Authority .– The Authority shall perform the following 
functions: 
(a) to formulate social protection policy for the Punjab in consultation with all 
stakeholders and synergize efforts in formulation of the policy with the 
Federal Government, national and international institutions; 
(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 and notify 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 assi stance, social inclusion  and labour 
market regulations; 
(k) to conduct research and formulate proposals for new interventions into the 
existing social protection programs 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 procedure for the identification , coverage and delivery 
mechanisms for the welfare beneficiaries; 
(o) to notify the disbursement procedures of the social interventions for each 
relevant Government department or agency;  
(p) to approve the budget of the Authority and to re-appropriate funds; 
(q) to evaluate and monitor the implementation of the dec isions of the 
Authority; 
(r) to monitor existing social protection programs and recommend to the 
Government their reorganization, consolidation or amalgamation with 
other social protection programs in the interest of efficiency and utility;  
(s) to designate regions for discharge of obligations under this Act and 
develop social protection framework for each region;  
(t) to oversee the establishment of social protection centers in each region 
to provide legal and social protection assistance and promote social 
awareness; 
(u) to engage any person or entity on contract basis to carry out assignments 
in accordance with the rules and regulations; and 
(v) any other function assigned to the Authority by the Government. 
7. Meetings.– (1) The Authority shall meet at least once in a quar ter, 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 p resided 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) Twelve members shall constitute quorum for a meeting of the Authority. 
8. Committees.– (1) The Authority ma y 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 ’s 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 adviso ry committees , as may be deemed necessary for carrying out the 
purposes of this Act and such committees shall exercise such powers and perform 
such functions as may be delegated or assigned to them by the Authority.  
(4) No committee under this Act shall b e constituted without the 
representation of two non -official members including at least one member of the 
Provincial Assembly of the Punjab.  
(5) A committee formed under this section , through a majority vote, may 
co-opt one or more non-members for technic al advice  and the c o-opted member 
may advice the committee but shall not vote.   
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 pr escribed 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.  
(4) The Chief Executive Officer may assign to the Deputy Chief Executive 
Officer the responsibility for certain services or delegate to him any of his own 
powers under this Act, 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 Act 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, cons ultants 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 E xecutive 
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 on 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 , 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 func tion 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 the 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 such 
terms and conditions that the Authori ty 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.  
(3) The Authority shall keep the donations and Zakat in separate bank 
account and shall not be uti lized for any other purpose except for the welfare 
initiatives under this Act. 
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, all grants, 
moneys, donations and income received by the Social Protection Authority Fund 
shall be exempt from all provincial taxes. 
17. Budget.– (1) The C hief Executive Officer  shall, in respect of each financial 
year, in accordance with the financial procedures prescribed, prepare the annual 
budget of the program and submit the same to the Authority for approval. 
(2) Subject to rules and regulations and any general or specific instructions 
of the Authority, the Chief Executive Officer may  incur expenditure for purposes of 
this Act. 
18. Accounts and audit .– (1) The Authority shall maintain complete and 
accurate books of acc ounts in connection with discharge of its responsibilities under 
this Act as may be prescribed by the Auditor General. 
(2) The Auditor General shall audit the accounts of the Authority every 
year in such manner as is prescribed. 
(3) The Chairperson may, at any time, appoint a Chartered Accountant or 
a firm of Chartered Accountants  to conduct an additional external audit of the 
accounts of the Authority and submit its report to the Authority. 
(4) The Authority shall produce all books of accounts and document s and 
furnish such explanation and information as an Auditor may require for the purposes 
of audit. 
(5) The Chief Executive Officer shall, after the audit report is received, 
submit a copy of the audit report to the Authority for information and any remedi al 
action, if so required. 
19. Annual report.– The Authority shall prepare an annual report for every financial 
year and shall, within four months from the closing of last financial year, submit the annual 
report to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab through the Government. 
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 Act. 
21. Power to make rules .– The Government may, by notification in the official 
Gazette, make rules for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act. 
22. Power to make regulations.– Subject to this Act and the rules, the Authority 
may, by notification in the official Gazette, make regulations for giving effect to the 
provisions of the Act. 
23. Act to prevail over other laws .– In the event of any conflict or incon sistency 
between the provision of this Act and the provision of any other law, the provision of 
the Act shall, to the extent of such conflict or inconsistency, prevail. 
24. Obligation to produce documents and provide information .– (1) The 
Authority or the Chief Executive Officer  may require, in writing, any person, 
Government department, authority, statutory body, company or organization, as the 
case may be, to provide any information or data held by that person, Government 
department, authority, statutory body, company or organization, which, in the opinion 
of the Authority is required for purposes of formulation of policy or exercising the 
powers granted by the provisions of this Act. 
(2) Every person, Government department, authority, statutory body, 
company or organization shall furnish the information requisitioned by such officer 
under sub-section (1), at the earliest. 
25. Repeal and savings .– (1) The Punjab Social Services Board Ordinance, 
1970 (II of 1970) is hereby repealed. 
(2) Notwithstanding the r epeal 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 
Act; 
(b)  all rights, properties, assets or liabil ities 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 emplo yees 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. 
26. Repeal.– The Punjab Social Protection Authority  Ordinance, 2015  (VII of 
2015) is hereby repealed.