Virus has exposed autonomy claims after 18th Amend: Fayyazul Hassan Chohan

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Punjab Information Minister said on Thursday corona virus had exposed opposition parties’ claim that provinces would get stronger after the 18th Amendment.

In a media talk at DG Khan, he said provinces stood exposed after pandemic and it had proved that they (provinces) could not capitalise on the financial autonomy they got under the 18th Amendment. He said the provinces could not fairly distribute funds they got from the Center under the NFC Award on districts.

He particularly targeted former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif who, he said, now claim to be the champion of the 18th Amendment. He said the self-proclaimed Khadim-e-Aala had not spent a single penny on South Punjab from the provincial share he got under the NFC Award after the 18th Amendment.

Instead, he said, Mr Sharif spent a major chunk of the Punjab’s share in development of only four districts – Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Faisalabad—till 2018. He criticized Shahbaz Sharif for ignoring South Punjab and other parts of the province that led to a of sense of deprivation there. He said termed it an act of treason on the part of Shahbaz Sharif and said he had done a great injustice to the people and brought a bad name to the 18th Amendment.

Chohan said that it was high time positive things in the 18th Amendment implemented and negative points removed. He said this could not be possible without a consensus. He said all the political partied should sit together to bring in changes in the amendment. He heaped praise on Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for launching a number of development projects in South Punjab and also praised Prime Minister Imran Khan for selecting such a calm and cool provincial executive head from the most neglected area of the Punjab who is working hard for development of the province and is proving his critics wrong time and again.