Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has come out with a claim that would have sounded better earlier, when the next election was not so close around the corner, that his government had an agenda of solving the peoples problems. Though he may be giving an indication of PML-Ns platform on which to contest the next election, Mian Shahbaz should keep in mind that the slogan of furthering the agenda can only be given if the period of government which is being judged at the election can be counted as successful. Mian Shahbaz will probably discount the federal subjects over which he and his party did not have any control, such as foreign affairs or control of the economy, especially electricity and petroleum prices. However, where the Punjab government is concerned, though there have been such steps as the agreement that Mian Shahbaz made in China for a hydel project at Taunsa, the Punjab government will be judged on its delivery of services rather than its ability to control either prices or loadshedding. Has the present government improved the law and order situation? This will be balanced with the status of education in the province, as well as that of healthcare. Though the floods in the last monsoon affected all provinces, Punjab was perhaps the worst affected. As such, the recovery that it has made will affect the PML-Ns electoral prospects. In that respect, the roll-out of the Punjab governments Ashiana scheme may well be too late to help it, though this too has been mentioned by Mian Shahbaz. Not just the Punjab government, but all the provincial governments, must never forget they form the main interface of the government with the ordinary citizen. Though the local councils (to which elections are overdue) also provide a very important interface, they get their funds from provincial governments, which can also dismiss them much more easily than the federal government can dismiss a provincial. Therefore, the provincial government can only find electoral success if it tackles the problems of governance falling within its sphere. This involves having tackled the peoples problems it could, which are plentiful. Of the three tiers of governance, it is the provincial which has the duty of service delivery in education, health and law and order. Provincial governments should look after them, because its reputation and electoral future depend on it.