LAHORE, Pakistan: The outgoing Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would invest its passion & energy into building dams & water reservoirs.
While addressing a Press Conference in Lahore in which he highlighted the performance of the Punjab government over the course of last five years, Shahbaz Sharif said it was PML-N that completed land acquisition for Diamir Basha Dam with Rs 100 billion.
“What did PTI do for construction of any hydropower project in water-rich KP province?, he asked.
Throwing light on progress achieved in some of the key areas of the governance, Shahbaz Sharif said the federal government under Nawaz Sharif brought about marked improvements in the area of counter-terrorism, energy and economy. He said Pakistan armed forces & other law enforcement agencies (LEA) personnel rendered sacrifices to bring terrorism to its lowest point.
“I visited Miranshah a few days ago and saw for myself how our valiant officers and jawans have created history with supreme sacrifices. Today’s Pakistan is more peaceful and secure,” he said.
The Punjab Chief Minister said Punjab set up power projects out of its own resources, in addition to overseeing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and federal power projects which were completed in record time. He said the electricity generated from those projects had been added to the national grid, benefiting the whole Pakistan
Shahbaz Sharif said under the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund, scholarships worth Rs 17 billion had been distributed among 350,000 students belonging to the poor households purely on merit.
“Can KP or Sindh cite any such one single example?, he asked.
The Chief Minister said the Punjab-Tianjin University of Technology was set up in Punjab. He said unless you equipped the youth with vocational & technical training, you could not make them stand on their feet. He said that University was in addition to many technical colleges already working in the province.
Likewise, he added in the realm of education, the PML-N government had set up 19 Universities and 200 new Colleges in Punjab during its tenure.
Mentioning Metro bus systems, upcoming Orange Line Metro Train Project & Speedo buses, Shahbaz Sharif said the Punjab transformed public transport system, adding a good, efficient, & dignified public transport system was key to improvement of local economy & facilitation of movement to all manner of people.
“It’s a revolution in Punjab’s transport sector. Look at how PTI dug out the whole Peshawar City for BRT that does not seem to be coming online anytime soon,” Shahbaz Sharif added.
Moreover, he said they established state of the art Pakistan Kidney & Liver Institute & Research Centre wherein two first kidney transplants had been carried out successfully. He said free medical treatment to the kidney and liver patients would save them from agony of traveling to India for transplant.
In order to facilitate the common man, the PML-N government had set up E-Khidmat Centres in Punjab where 17 services had been brought together under one roof, the Chief Minister said.
“This is innovative concept that has been implemented for the first time anywhere in Pakistan,” he said.
The Punjab Chief Minister also said Punjab was proud to bring 90,000 children working at the brick-kilns to schools by offering their families financial incentives. He said he personally led that anti-labour campaign, and added now they were getting education from schools and would become productive members of this society.
Shahbaz Sharif further said the Punjab government achieved an unprecedented feat of saving Rs 682 billion for the first time in Pakistan’s history. He said if there was is anything he could be proud of as servant of the people, it was these savings of nation’s hard-earned money. He added those savings had been used for public welfare.
