Unnecessary schemes won’t be continued, says Buzdar

LAHORE: The Punjab government will present the budget for the remaining eight months of the fiscal year on October 16.

This was decided in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at Chief Minister’s Office on Wednesday.. The meeting took a detailed review of different proposals with regard to the provincial budget and annual development programme.

It decided the Punjab government would present the budget for the remaining eight months of the current fiscal year on October 16. The chief minister said that first budget of the PTI government should fully depict change and added that unrealistic development targets would not be set now. “Our development programme would be in accordance with the needs of the people”, he added.

Special attention will be given to the development of Southern Punjab and policies will be formulated to benefit the common people, he said. He added the previous government started schemes for their personal projection rather than paying any attention to the public welfare.

He disclosed the wrong schemes of the past would be revaluated and unnecessary schemes will not be continued. The money saved from such schemes will be spent on public welfare and new example will be set by promoting a culture of austerity and simplicity, he concluded. Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht and the finance secretary were also present.

Meanwhile, Usman Buzdar has said the PTI government inherited weak economy as the past government devastated the national institutions because of its incompetence. Due to the wrong policies of the previous government, problems of the people increased and public interest was badly ignored, the chief minister said while talking to the MNAs and MPAs of the PTI from different districts who called on him at his office on Wednesday.

The chief minister said the prime minister was compelled to make difficult decisions to improve the economic condition and the decisions would become foundation of the bright future of the country. The prime minister’s vision of Pakistan is a guarantor to the bright future of the country, he added.

He claimed the people would soon perceive positive changes around them. He said that decisions were being made for public welfare by rising above the political interest. He said, “My doors are always open to the assembly members and their respect is very dear to me. Decisions in Punjab are being made with the consultation of the assembly members.”

Those who met the chief minister included MNAs Zahoor Hussain Qureshi, Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Ahmed Hussain Deher, Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, Mian Muhammad Shafique, Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan, Muhammad Ahmer Sultan, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, Khurram Shahzad, Raza Nasrullah, Sardar Talib Nakai, Umer Aslam Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Raja Riaz, Faiz Ullah, Shaneela Ruth, Provincial Minister Muhammad Asif Nakai, MPAs Ghazanfer Abbas, Latif Nazar, Shakeel Shahid, Syed Abbas Ali Shah and PTI leader Firdous Ashiq Awan.