LAHORE: PMLN Central Leader and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif says PTI had put Punjab’s progress made during PMLN tenure, into reverse gear.
In a statement Hamza said PTI had obliterated Punjab over the past three years exactly as they destroyed KPK during their 9 year rule. He said those who love Punjab should realise sooner than later that a weak Punjab would lead to a weak Pakistan. Pakistan’s enemies would be the only ones benefitting from the financial, administrative and agricultural degeneration of Punjab, he added.
He said during PTI’s rule Punjab’s share in the divisible pool was reduced by 11 percent. As compared to the Rs 1601 billion for the fiscal year 2019-2020, “Punjab was allocated Rs 1432 billion for the year 2020-2021. Even this amount couldn’t be used due to the incompetent Punjab government. During the PMLN tenure, Punjab’s revenue collection increased by 121 percent as the revenue increased from Rs 142 billion to Rs 315 billion over 5 years. But even after 3 years PTI was not even close to this mark. The PTI slashed Punjab’s development budget by Rs 238 billion, whereas PMLN increased it by 150 percent during its 5 years and took to Rs 2220 billion which was the highest in the history of the country. PMLN spent over 80 percent in of this which was Rs 1757 billion “, Hamza said.
The Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader said PTI could not do anything more than mere propaganda for South Punjab. PTI reduced South Punjab’s Budget by 50 percent as compared to PMLN’s last fiscal year, which was Rs 228.6 billon he added. This was a 36 percent increase from 2016-2017, he told. How would South Punjab progress with half the budget.
Hamza said PTI reduced this amount to Rs 117.95 billion, that to after 40 percent devaluation. For the 822 available vacancies for South Punjab Secretariat, 232 were filled. He said PMLN also connected South Punjab with the national capital through motorways and reduced the travel time, he said.
