Extraordinary amount of money being spent on education: CM

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday the Punjab government had given extraordinary amount of funds for the development of the province’s education sector.
However, he added that if Musharraf and the present corrupt rulers of Islamabad had not plundered national wealth, much more funds would have been available for the promotion of education. Addressing the ‘Toppers Convention 2012’ at Alhamra Cultural Complex, he said that the young generation was a national asset and could lead Pakistan in accordance with the teachings of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal.
“The youth can change Pakistan’s status from being a beggar nation to a donor nation,” he said.
Accusing President Asif Ali Zardari of corruption, he said, “Zar Baba and his forty thieves have looted billions of rupees from the national exchequer”.
“During the last five years, the Punjab government has given cash prizes worth Rs 550 million to position-holders across the province and has laid the foundation of an educational revolution which the young generation will have to carry forward,” he said.
The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, parliamentarians, vice chancellors of universities, heads of educational institutions, teachers, parents and students belonging to various schools, colleges and universities.
“Around 125,000 laptops have been distributed among talented students. God willingly, among the recipients of these laptops, thousands of IT experts will emerge who will ensure Pakistan a prominent place among the developed nations and will turn this country into a ‘Silicon Valley’ someday,” he said.
He said the Punjab government was distributing solar lamps worth Rs 4.5 billion among students so that load shedding of electricity did not cause a hindrance in their studies. “The distribution of 250,000 solar lamps among students is a slap on the face of the federal government which has pushed the nation into darkness,” he added. He said Musharraf and his disciple, former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, had mercilessly looted national resources in the name of development projects.
“About Rs 2 billion were wasted on the construction of a palatial Chief Minister House at 8 Club Road; where the bullet-proof glass alone cost Rs 120 million. I have not even laid a single foot into that building,” he said.
He said he cancelled the construction of a luxurious complex for ministers which would have cost the national exchequer Rs 650 million. “Pervaiz Elahi wanted to build another luxurious complex worth Rs 2.5 billion for himself near the Punjab Assembly,” he said.
The CM also said it was shameful how the rulers of Islamabad politicised a serious matter like dengue. The chief minister also distributed cash prizes worth Rs 110 million among students and heads of educational institutions.