The political controversy over the neglect of minority communities has deepened in Pakistan’s Punjab province. MLAs in the Punjab provincial assembly accused the government of not allocating any funds for the conservation of churches and temples in the 2025-26 budget, while adequate funds were also not kept for the development of minority-dominated areas.
Ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senator Baba Falbus Christopher said during the assembly session that “not even a single penny” was given for the repair and conservation of churches and temples in Punjab. The minority senator from the ruling party alleged that almost no budget was kept for the development of Christian dominated settlements. Christopher demanded from the government that adequate funds should be allocated for religious places and basic facilities of minority communities in the budget of 2026-27.
There is no concrete welfare scheme for Hindus: Basro
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Hindu MLA Basro ji said that a large number of Hindu population lives in South Punjab, but no concrete welfare scheme has been started for them. He alleged that the limited funds kept for the development of Hindu areas were also later withdrawn.
During the debate, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan also raised questions on the functioning of the Minority Affairs Ministry. This ministry is with the first Sikh minister of Pakistan, Ramesh Singh Arora. The speaker said that minority communities are still deprived of basic facilities like drinking water, sanitation and health, hence development funds should be spent on these needs first.
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Problems of minorities have been going on since 1947: Arora
However, Minister Ramesh Singh Arora defended the government, saying that the problems of minorities have been going on since 1947 and they cannot be eliminated “overnight”. He claimed that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s government has increased the budget of the Minority Affairs Department by 300 percent in the last two years.
According to human rights organization Minority Rights, minority communities like Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, Sikhs and Kalash in Pakistan often live in an environment of poverty, discrimination and insecurity. The organization says that despite constituting about four percent of the country’s population, these communities often have to face treatment like “second class citizens”.
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