Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that bringing deprived segments of the society into mainstream of development is the agenda of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government and all-out efforts are being made for this purpose.
He said maximum funds are being utilised for the provision of basic amenities to the masses. He said that in accordance with the policy of balanced development, mega projects are being executed expeditiously in the backward areas. He said that the masses are fully benefitting from the projects completed in education, health, infrastructure and social sectors. He said that the funds saved through following the policy of austerity are being spent on the projects of progress and prosperity of the people.
He was talking to a delegation of elected representatives of PML-N. The chief minster said that transparency, merit and good governance have been promoted in the province. He said that funds worth billions of rupees have been saved through financial discipline and transparency in development projects. He said maintenance of transparency by the government from the launching until completion of development projects is unprecedented in the history of the country and a new trend of high quality and transparent execution of development schemes has been set.
Sharif said that if the policy of merit and transparency had been adopted in the implementation of projects during last 68 years, the situation in the country would have been different. He said that corruption and loot was rampant in the era of dictatorship and the rulers made no practical effort for resolving the problems of the masses. He said that these rulers misappropriated huge amounts in the name of development projects but did nothing to resolve energy crisis and other problems of the masses. The chief minister said that present government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been making all-out efforts for the last two and a half years for riding the country of energy crisis and other issues and positive results are being witnessed. He said that the day is not far when Pakistan will be steered out of crises and put on the road to progress and prosperity. He said that due to solid economic policies of the federal government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, national economy has improved and foreign exchange reserves are at the highest level in the history of the country.
He said that work is being carried out round the clock on power projects and their completion by the end of 2017 will help in eliminating loadshedding. He said that the government is not only working on energy projects but funds of billions of rupees have also been saved. He said that by ensuring transparency in three gas-based power projects in Punjab, a huge sum of Rs 112 billion has been saved and these projects are the cheapest in the world. He said that China is making an investment of 36 billion dollars in energy projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and power projects under the CPEC are being set up in all the four provinces. The chief minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a safe, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan will be given to the coming generation.
Meanwhile, CM Sharif presided over a high-level meeting which reviewed the pace of Inland Water Transport Development Project. The chief minister reprimanded the officials concerned over the delay in some matters relating to the project and said that a modern approach will have to be adopted for speedy implementation of the projects. He said that funds are a trust of the nation and timely utilisation of resources is the responsibility of the department concerned. He said that action will be taken against the persons responsible for delay. He said laxity in utilisation of resources will not be tolerated. The chief minister while issuing instructions for constituting a committee directed that it should submit a detailed report regarding delay in the execution of the project. Chairman Inland Water Transport Development Project Naeem Sarfraz gave a briefing regarding the project. Provincial Minister for Irrigation Yawar Zaman and officials concerned attended the meeting.
