LAHORE - The PML-Q Punjab leadership issued a white paper relating one-year performance of the provincial government, terming it a story of failures. PML-Q Punjab general secretary, Chaudhry Zaheeruddin along with party spokesperson, Seemal Kamran issued the white paper while addressing a news conference at the Muslim League House here on Thursday. The white paper claimed the ruling party increased prices of daily use items 100 times, launched poorly-planned or ill-conceived projects and signed undoable MoUs. It claimed that Yellow Cab, Sasti Roti, Mechanical Tandoors, Green Tractors Schemes and Daanish Schools emerged as the flop projects.
The white paper stated the provincial rulers made hollow claims regarding the education sector and Daanish Schools brought no revolution, while there was no teaching and other staff at 42 colleges for the last six years, as the colleges were the project of the Pervaiz Elahi-led government. It claimed that due to inefficiency of the government, 6.7 million children could not go to schools last year. It further stated that wheat was procured from the farmers at cheaper rates and sold at higher rates, depriving the growers from the real fruits.
Instead of increasing support price of wheat, cost of atta (flour) was raised to benefit the industrialists. Likewise, price of sugar was increased to benefit the mill owners instead of the farmers. It stated the provincial rulers also failed to provide health facilities. It demanded the rulers should have expanded the Rescue 1122 established by Pervaiz Elahi to each district by now if they were serious in taking care of health of the common man. For the first time in the history of Punjab, fake medicines were used in the government-run hospitals under official patronage and more than 150 patients died, 600 children died of measles and more than 55,000 people were affected by dengue, while polio had again surfaced.
The white paper claimed that after the failed project of Metro Bus on which Rs75 billion of the public was wasted, the provincial rulers were bent upon establishing Metro Train at an estimated cost of about Rs120 billion. Likewise, Metro Bus is also being launched in Rawalpindi.
It added that billions of rupees of the public exchequer were being wasted on the unwise projects initiated in a city where 85 per cent population was not getting clean drinking water.
It stated that unemployment was on the rise and recently hundreds of WASA employees were deprived of their jobs, while the rulers had made the life of salaried people miserable.
It also claimed that about 5,000 murders, 12,862 cases of abduction/kidnapping for ransom, 31,000 dacoities and 220 people were killed during dacoities. It added that the provincial rulers were harbouring and protecting the terrorists, while the terrorists getting extortion money.