NADER BUNERI/AGENCIES
PESHAWAR - PTI chairman Imran Khan said that Pakistan is passing through its toughest phase while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with his family embarked on a nine-day tour to Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah on ‘tax money of public’.
Addressing the launching ceremony of ‘Sasta Atta and Ghee Scheme’ here Tuesday, Imran accused PM Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif of spending Rs10 billion on a self-projection campaign.
He said that monarchy is established in the country and two monarchs of Punjab are busy looting the public wealth and performing Umra and Haj through public money.
Imran said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has set praise-worthy examples of solid performance but never made any effort to highlight it as it is being done by the PML-N rulers. He particularly mentioned the KP’s reforms undertaken in the police department.
He said the people being fed up with the current system will come out in huge numbers to take part in the PTI’s long march in Islamabad on August 14. “People want a government that is committed to serving them and they will come out for change on (August) 14,” he expressed his confidence. He informed on that day he would bring all record of rigging in front of the people. He said his party would approach the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over ‘Nandipur Project scam’.
The PTI chief said the Punjab government was focused on launching multi-billion projects like Metro Bus which are not going to help the poor in any way. He said although the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been left alone to tackle the challenges of the ongoing operation in North Waziristan, the federal ministers were busy in a vilification campaign, calling it a failed province.
Condemning the Israel’s aggression against Palestinians, the PTI chairman asked the Muslim rulers to take a unified stance on critical situation in Gaza and take practical steps to stop Zionist regime from indiscriminate killing of the innocent people. Imran labelled the Muslim leaders as cowards whose only concern is to care about their billions stashed away in western banks. Even a boycott of Israel-made products would be a big step against the ongoing aggression in Gaza, he added.
He called upon the Muslim leadership to get unite against Israel and convey a unified message to the Jewish state on killing of the innocent civilians.
Chief Minister Parvez Khattak, PTI Provincial President Azam Swati, General Secretary Khalid Maswood, Information Secretary Ayesha Gulalali and large number of MPAs were present on the occasion.
He directed the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take stand for their rights against federal government. He said the federal government must ensure payment of net hydal profit and other arrears of the province. He also stressed action against timber mafia and establishment of sports grounds in each tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He claimed that PTI has discouraged the politics of transfer and illegal appointments. He said if any party’s worker was found involved in corruption he would be expelled and ticket would not be given in the next elections.
Addressing on the occasion, CM Khattak said the PTI-led coalition government is fulfilling its each electoral commitment, saying it not only achieved success in the eradication of corruption and mission of change in the system but also took solid steps for raising the life standard of people. He said the pledge his government made during the budget for financial year 2014-15 for a special package to provide subsidised flour and ghee to the poor worth Rs7 billion is being implemented.
Under the programme, he said, 5.6 million people identified as poor would be given a subsidy of Rs10 per kg on purchase of 40 kilogram flour and Rs40 per kg on purchase of five kg ghee per month. The families, he said, would be issued two vouchers of worth Rs600 per month through which they could purchase these commodities from their nearby utility store. Besides this, he said, the provincial government also arranged insurance policy for the head of each poor family. Under which he said an amount of Rs0.1million would be paid in case of accidental death and Rs50,000 in case of physical death to the heirs of decease persons.
PTI GOVT FAILED ON ALL
FRONTS: SHERPAO
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Parliamentary Leader Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said on Tuesday that the PTI-led provincial government had failed on all fronts as it lacked planning and vision to put the province on path to progress.
Talking to a delegation of party workers at the Watan Kor, he said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had lagged behind in all fields due to the injudicious use of funds.
He said the performance of the KP government was confined to papers only as the rulers fudged figures in the budget documents to deceive the people.
About the provincial government's claims regarding securing funds from the federal government, Sikandar Sherpao said the Rs1 billion paid to the KP government was the interest on the unutilised amount from the previous budget.
The QWP leader said the provincial government had been unable to use a big chunk of the funds allocated under the Annual Development Programme for 2013-14 as it invested a large portion of budget funds with the federal government.
He said the KP government failed to secure the arrears of net hydel profits from the federal government. "The provincial government has not taken up this issue with the federal government seriously," he asserted. Sikandar Sherpao said no change could be brought in any sector as the rulers failed to honour the election pledges. "The slogan of change was a ploy to reach the corridors of power," he remarked.
He said the provincial government couldn't get the schools rebuilt that were bombed by the militants.
"Where is the education emergency," he questioned, referring to the claim of the PTI rulers, who had pledged to revamp the education system.