People remember us after facing the worst in Sharifs’ nine-year rule: Elahi

Asks Shahbaz to check availability of medicines and doctors at hospitals instead of checking washrooms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid's (PML-Q) senior leader and former deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday said he was thankful to Allah Almighty that the people of the Punjab still remembered the record development projects accomplished during his five-year rule as the chief minister.

Pervaiz said he had completed 137 public welfare projects, which had not been done previously in the history of the country. “We gave Rescue 1122, free education and medicines, abolished tax on 4-marla houses and small farmers, but the current rulers are imposing tax on the poor and farmers.

"The Muslim Leaguers should not sit in their homes but remind people about our services. Sincere workers are our greatest asset," he said while addressing the first workers convention at Dhamyal here.

The convention was participated by thousands of workers.  Secretary General Tariq Bashir Cheema, Chief Organizer Muhammad Basharat Raja, Ch Zaheeruddin and Mohammad Ajmal Wazir spoke on the occasion.

Nasir Raja, Hamid Nawaz Raja, Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Raja Moeen Sultan, Ch Javed Nazir, Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah, Ch Shafqat, Haji Majeed, Aminullah Khan and other Muslim League leaders were also present on the occasion.

Basharat Raja hosted a reception in the honour of convention's participants. The former chief minister said Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif had done no work for the welfare of people.

“Whatever they did is to favour themselves and their supporters. The farmers were given fake cheques. We had posted doctors in all hospitals from Rajanpur to Attock, provided free medicines, but during the nine-year rule of the current rulers, billions of rupees have been swallowed.”

He said out of the Rs666 billion Punjab budget, just Rs300 billion had been earmarked for dollar-making show-off projects in Lahore only.

He said subsidy for “jangla bus” was Rs24 billion while billions of rupees were being dumped in earning dollars and Orange Line project. Pervaiz said the rulers were trying to run the Orange Line by snatching the rights of the people of 34 districts.

“Shahbaz Sharif only got shame by closing our projects," he said.  Elahi said during his tenure, he had constructed 25 small dams in Potohar, provided water up to Cholistan to make Punjab greener whereas during the era of Shahbaz Sharif, record thefts and dacoities were being committed.

“There are no medicines in hospitals, four patients are lying on one bed, fake stents are being planted and deserving patients are dying on cold floors of hospitals.” He said Shahbaz Sharif checked washrooms in hospitals instead of medicines, doctors and equipment.