Crackdown against profiteers soon
Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday questioned the lack of information presented by Pakistan Muslim League-N after Nawaz Sharif travelled to London for treatment.
While addressing the media in Sialkot, she said it has been several days since former premier travelled to London for treatment but there hasn’t been a single report on his health.
“Nawaz Sharif’s illness is linked to the palace, he arrives at the palace and recovers,” she said. The special assistant also said the government will launch a crackdown on profiteers to control prices of essential items in the country. She also questioned why the doctors abroad had not issued any sort of advisory over his treatment. “Doctors had said the illness could only be treated abroad. But now, ever since he has been gone, we have not seen a final recommendation by the foreign doctors.
“We know full well the true nature of his illness and their (the Sharif family’s) associated agenda,” said the spokesperson.
Awan also criticised the “role” played by Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz Sharif over the course of the former’s illness and said that it was the first time that a person, who is named in multiple corruption cases, assumed the role of a guarantor.
She said the government is currently facing two challenges; unemployment and inflation – which can only be resolved by wealth creation and job opportunities. The special assistant also reiterated the premier’s priority to provide relief to the masses and to promote industrial activity in the country.
Besides political issues, Awan also answered questions about the affairs of the PTI government, assuring reporters that the government will soon launch a crackdown against hoarders and profiteers in order to check the price hike.
She said the governance system of provincial governments will be improved to achieve the desired objective, and the role of middle man was being eliminated to check the price hike.
The SAPM also expressed the government’s commitment to extend facilities to the rural population that are available to those in the urban centres.
Awan, who visited a government college in Sialkot, regretted that students continue to graduate and “no one sees whether the market matches the education obtained”.
“The prime minister has set out to establish a think tank and task force under the job employment bureau and job portal. The ‘Kamyab Naujawan Programme’ is an important pillar of this initiative,” she said.
The special assistant said that the government wishes to restructure Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and through cottage industries, aims to combine training and education.
“Only education without training or experience is of no use. Then, you are simply creating an army of the unemployed. An army which will be unable to deliver (on economic goals), which has no exposure, no capacity, and facilities of the modern era.
“Therefore we want to equip our unutilised women workforce to meet the challenges of our economic situation.” She said that degree colleges are usually operational in the day and “these buildings are useless by afternoon time”.
“We want to launch a pilot project with the Punjab government to increase capacity building with evening classes in some degree colleges so that girls, as soon as they have their degrees, are able to acquire employment in our industries, factories, and offices.
“In Sialkot, we will establish a role model and then we will replicate this success story in Punjab and the rest of Pakistan,” said Awan.
