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Tag: Punjab government

  • Punjab info minister says ‘Buzdar should be praised like Sher Shah Suri’

    Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has said that Chief Minister (CM) Usman works silently without setting up any camp offices and consequently reducing the provincial government’s expenses by 60 per cent, therefore, “he should be praised like Sher Shah Suri”.

    Suri was the founder of the Suri Empire in the northern Indian subcontinent, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar.

    Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Information Minister Chohan asserted that the former government caused a loss of $21 billion to the national exchequer and more than 2,000 officials were appointed for the security of then CM Shehbaz Sharif’s relatives.

    “He [Shehbaz] had established eight camp offices but neither of them were in Lahore,” the minister said and added that Buzdar could not be compared to opposition leaders as the former had not laundered money.

    The provincial minister said that people like Tallal Chaudhry, Daniyal Aziz and Javed Latif had earlier “taken over the system”, while Buzdar’s government has recovered loans worth over Rs10 billion in one year, allocated 35 per cent budget for southern parts of Punjab and built shelter homes for the poor.

    “The CM has allocated a huge portion of funds for the development of South Punjab in the provincial budget for the first time in the history of the province.”

    Chohan said that policies pertaining to district industry and special education were approved during Buzdar’s tenure and construction of nine universities and nine hospitals had now been started.

    “Previously, every person raised slogans against neglecting South Punjab. Now, six out of nine hospitals in the province are being constructed there. CM Buzdar can be titled as Waseem Akram-Plus, if we thoroughly review his performance within over a year.”

    He said Punjab had collected 104 per cent tax revenue that increased the province’s income up to Rs75 billion and in the first year, policies for tourism, agriculture, labour, industries, water and forests had been approved in Punjab.

    The provincial minister continued that 36 bills were approved by the Punjab government for the first time in the history of the province.

    “So-called political leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had only grabbed government lands during their tenures,” the provincial government’s mouthpiece maintained.

  • Darul Aman superintendent says orphan girls being ‘misused’ by minister, govt officials

    Darul Aman superintendent says orphan girls being ‘misused’ by minister, govt officials

    Darul Aman’s Lahore superintendent has alleged that orphan girls living in the shelter homes are being “misused” to fulfill the demands of ministers and government officials.

    In a video doing rounds on Twitter, the superintendent has stated that orphan girls are being misused under the guise of giving them shelter and food.

    In another video, she has claimed that she was being pressurised by Social Welfare Director General (DG) Afshan Kiran Imtiaz to marry underage girls to fulfil demands of some higher government officials and a provincial minister.

    She added that Chief Minister’s Inspection Team was consistently pressurising her to take back her statement, and her refusal to do so had resulted in the budgetary allocations to her department being held back.

    In a recent video, the same official can be seen saying that she is facing arrest for exposing the happenings in the shelter homes as police had broken the door of Darul Aman’s Lahore office.

    In a reference to authorities and those involved, she said that they were trying to wipe out evidence and requested people to spread her message.

    She added that she did not know what was to happen to her and where she would be taken now.

    Another video — tweeted by the same handle sharing the Darul Aman official’s videos — showed police barging in through the doors, with the claim that it was being done to teach an unforgettable lesson to the official for exposing Punjab CM Usman Buzdar’s cabinet members allegedly raping orphans.

  • Punjab bans mobile phones in schools, colleges to curb drugs menace

    Punjab bans mobile phones in schools, colleges to curb drugs menace

    Punjab Education Department has reportedly banned the use of mobile phones in all public and private educational institutions across the province in an attempt to curb the growing trend of drugs among students.

    “Under the prevailing dangers of menace of drugs in educational institutions (public and private sector) and to safeguard the young generation from this curse, it is mandatory to impose [a] complete ban on the use of mobile and other sources to use social media in the premises of educational institutions across the province,” read an Education Department notification doing rounds over the internet.

    While it also called for a ban on the use of social media for children under the age of 16, people are questioning if the move even makes any sense.

    Drug addiction in Pakistan has reached an alarming high within the past few decades, as according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
    (UNODC), the total number of addicts has reached 67 million.

    More than 800,000 Pakistani aged between 15 and 64 use drugs on a daily basis and an estimated 44 tons of processed heroin is consumed annually in Pakistan. According to another report, 57% of school, college and university students in Lahore are using at least one drug.

  • VIDEO: ‘Usman Buzdar just got married again,’ claims journalist

    VIDEO: ‘Usman Buzdar just got married again,’ claims journalist

    Senior journalist and analyst Irshad Bhatti has claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s blue-eyed subordinate, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar, has gotten married for the second time.

    As per the details, journalists on Geo News programme “Report Card” on Tuesday discussed the blunders being made by PM Imran’s team that the premier had constituted himself.

    “If you want to leave PM Imran out of all the criticism, do it. But it wasn’t us who formed his team,” Babar Sattar said.

    “You cannot absolve the premier. The person who made him [Usman Buzdar] Wasim Akram plus, must be held responsible,” he added while citing the example of the Punjab CM, who has retained his position despite severe criticism over poor performance.

    The remarks were followed by Bhatti’s revelation as he congratulated his colleagues over the alleged second marriage of the provincial chief executive. “I congratulate all of you as Buzdar Sahab has gotten married for the second time… and on top of that, stories surrounding his new in-laws are amazing,” he said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Bhatti also hinted at the development having something to do with the new house that the Punjab CM just purchased and his back-to-back trips to Khushab. “It’s his right to get married so it doesn’t matter, but the stories that follow, are astonishing.”

    He also alleged corruption on Buzdar’s part and later criticised him for his “inability” to bring out any reforms.

  • After Sindh, Buzdar’s Punjab ‘starts running out of rabies vaccine’

    After Sindh, Buzdar’s Punjab ‘starts running out of rabies vaccine’

    Following the shortfall of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) at public hospitals across Sindh, Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar-led administration in Punjab has reportedly started running out of the same.

    According to a private media outlet, a minor girl in Sialkot was bitten by a dog earlier this week. Hadiya later passed away because there was no vaccine available at the Civil Hospital she was rushed to in the Kotli Loharan town of the district.

    Last month, a ten-year-old, who was bitten by a stray dog, died of rabies in Larkana.

    According to details, the minor, who was identified as Mir Hasan was first taken to a hospital in Shikarpur, however, he was not given the treatment because there was no vaccine available at the hospital.

    Hasan’s parents later rushed him to Larkana’s Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Hospital, but it had also run out of the required vaccine, resulting in the boy succumbing to the disease.

    The tragic development in Punjab comes amid the government’s inaction despite a rise in the number of dog-bite in Sialkot. Earlier this year, over 200 people were attacked by stray dogs in the district within a short span of two months.

    RABIES & VACCINE SHORTAGE:

    Rabies encephalitis is a dog-borne viral illness caused mostly by the biting of stray dogs, and if ARV is not administered to the affected person along with immunoglobulin, the patient suffers a miserable death due to hydrophobia and other complications of the disease.

    According to SAMAA, most anti-rabies vaccinations in Pakistan were imported from India, but they don’t want to export the vaccine to Pakistan anymore.

    The vaccine imported from India cost Rs1,000 whereas the one imported from Europe costs Rs70,000. At public hospitals, cases of dog bites are treated for free. Public hospitals use the Indian vaccine because it’s cheaper. Some private hospitals in the city use the expensive European vaccines.

    “The time has come to start producing this vaccine in Pakistan. If the government can’t find a cheap alternative to the European vaccine, the number of deaths due to rabies will increase,” SAMAA quoted Pakistan Medical Association member Dr Qaiser Sajjad as saying.

  • As dengue cases cross 10,000 mark, Punjab govt has a ‘dua’ for people

    As dengue cases cross 10,000 mark, Punjab govt has a ‘dua’ for people

    With the number of dengue cases in the country reaching five-digits and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza warning of a further increase within the next 10 days, Punjab government has come up with a spiritual cure.

    Sharing an Arabic phrase in a “public service message” — posters of which have been pasted across Toba Tek Singh — the city’s deputy commissioner has advised people to read the dua every day and paste the pamphlet outside their houses and workplace to ward off evil dengue.

    The dengue virus is spreading in different parts of the country due to the negligence of provincial governments. Despite many warnings issued by health experts before the season, no adequate arrangements were made by the departments concerned to tackle the issue.

    In Pakistan, there is no specific vaccine available to treat dengue and with scanty arrangments made by the government, it is likely that in the days to come, the situation will only get worse.

  • Lahore’s Orange Train the new Peshawar BRT? Delays cost taxpayers Rs11 billion

    Lahore’s Orange Train the new Peshawar BRT? Delays cost taxpayers Rs11 billion

    Delays in construction of Lahore’s Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) has escalated its premium cost by 50 per cent as suspension of development work on the mega project has served a Rs11 billion blow to the national exchequer, The News reported.

    The estimated premium cost of the project was Rs22 billion, but it has increased to Rs30 billion, reports quoted a Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) official as saying and added that an additional Rs3 billion has been allocated for the construction of footpaths for the project, escalating the total premium cost to Rs33 billion.

    The OLMT has two components. The first component of the project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) whereas the second one is to be funded by the Punjab government.

    The estimated cost of the first component, which includes the civil as well as electrical and mechanical (E&M) works, is unchanged and stands at $1.458 billion. All funding for the CPEC component has been done by the Chinese government; however, the estimated premium cost of the local component, which is to be funded by the Punjab government, has escalated from Rs22 billion to Rs33 billion.

    In order to cut the project’s expenditures, the government has slashed some components of the project, such as the 0.4 kilometers long moving walkway from Lahore Railway Station to Metro Bus Station and the Anarkali-MAO passenger transfer section, reports said.

    PMTA officials were quoted as claiming that the local component price escalation was not because of any delays in civil or E&M works, but because of court cases, some issues on part of the provincial Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), Special Protection Unit (SPU) and some other reasons.

    They added that 96.5 per cent work on OLMT had been completed and it was on the punch list stage, but they couldn’t give an exact deadline for the inauguration as it “depends on the present government when it decides to complete the remaining part”.

  • Buzdar’s metro plan backfires, number of commuters falls by 20,000

    Buzdar’s metro plan backfires, number of commuters falls by 20,000

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led provincial government’s Metro Bus fare policy has backfired as both Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro buses have faced a drastic decrease in the number of passengers.

    According to The News, after the Punjab Metro Bus Authority increased the bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30, the number of commuters on Lahore Metro Bus has decreased by up to 20,000 per day while around 10,000 to 20,000 passengers have stopped commuting via the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus.

    “We were expecting an annual increase of Rs800 million in the revenue of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) by increasing the fare. However, it is quite surprising that the number of passengers has decreased up to 20,000 in Lahore and 10,000 to 20,000 in Rawalpindi-Islamabad on a daily basis,” reports quoted an official as saying.

    It is very strange for us to know that passengers are so sensitive about the fare, the official said further. “The PMTA management is preparing the report on this unexpected outcome which will be presented to the authorities concerned in a week or two.”

  • Punjab govt misses tax collection target by over Rs20 billion

    Punjab govt misses tax collection target by over Rs20 billion

    The Punjab government has missed its tax collection target in July, costing the provincial exchequer an amount of Rs20.45billion, The Express Tribune reported.

    According to reports, the provincial government collected Rs11.91billion, down by 63 per cent from its target of Rs32.33billion, and economic experts associate the reduction in tax collections with the fiscal crisis that currently grips the country.

    “If the economy remains in this condition, revenue will continue to fall,” the report quoted an expert as saying.

    Several factors, including lower than usual property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revue, contributed to the overall shortfall. During July, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collection under stamp duty, property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revenue fell by 20.41 per cent, due to which the tax authority was only able to bag Rs5.38billion instead of Rs6.76billion.

    Similarly, a reduction of 22.16 per cent in property transfer, professional tax, professional excise, and other indirect taxes resulted in a shortfall of Rs0.73 billion.

    The provincial exchequer received another blow in lower than expected collection of sales tax and other indirect taxes. Out of the Rs13.87billion, only Rs318.6million ended up in the provincial coffers.

    Experts believe slowing economic growth will result in lower revenues for the government. And if current trends continue, the government revenue receipts will fail to match the budgeted targets.

    Official sources, on the other hand, confirmed the English daily that the targets were not being met due to the current economic crisis. However, they were hopeful that the coming year would yield better results and bring in greater revenue through taxation.

  • ‘Punjab cops were never like Swiss police,’ CM’s spokesperson says

    ‘Punjab cops were never like Swiss police,’ CM’s spokesperson says

    Amid rising numbers of police brutality cases, the spokesperson to Punjab chief minister (CM), Dr Shahbaz Gill, has said that the personnel of the provincial police department “were never like those in Switzerland”.

    “Changing the culture of any department takes time. Be it exploiting or improving, it does not happen overnight,” said Gill, whose ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had been elected to power after promises to reform Punjab police, among others.

    Referring to the recent spike in police brutality cases and custodial deaths in the province, Gill said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had told CM Usman Buzdar to revamp service-related institutions of Punjab, specifically the police department.

    “He [PM] also appreciated the role played by Punjab police on Ashura and gave clear directions that the police should serve its people as it did in Muharram, rather than being violent and torturing its citizens.”

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Was it [Punjab police] like Swiss police a year ago? We should know it takes time to change the culture of any department,” he said, adding that it had taken over two years to reform the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police.