Punjab’s budget for the new financial year 2017-18 is being presented in the Provincial Assembly Friday (June 02) and it will mark allocation of record funds for development of districts of the province located in South Punjab region.
This quite appreciable indication has been given by no less a person than Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, who is paying special attention to the development of backward areas of South Punjab.
It is pertinent to mention here that the provincial government is already executing a mega project for provision of safe and hygienic drinking water to the rural population of al 37 tehsils of South Punjab. Needless to mention here that safe and hygienic water is one of essential requirement of the people particularly in southern Punjab who have so far been drinking unhygienic, unsafe and unhealthy water due to non-availability of proper safe drinking water.
While appreciating the importance and priority being attached to the development of South Punjab region, this is to suggest that while allocating record development funds for the districts located in the region in the new provincial budget for financial year 2017-18 it should also be announced as to how much funds were allocated for the region during outgoing financial year and out of these how much had been utilised properly and efficiently according to the latest available figures.
Now that the district city governments are in place for some months, if the funds so allocated for the region are duly disbursed to the local government bodies it will be highly appreciated by the local people who will be in a better position to keep asking their elected representatives at the grass root level as to how the development funds provided by the provincial government are being utilised on provision of essential basic facilities and amenities to them as per their felt needs.
EM ZEE RIFFAT
Lahore