Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has directed the provincial departments to cut unnecessary expenditures as novel coronavirus has created difficult circumstances.
Usman Buzdar chaired a special session at the CM Office to deliberate on the upcoming budget and annual development program for fiscal year 2020-21. The CM instructed to give priority to health and welfare sectors in the budget.
“All departments need to follow strict financial discipline and promote austerity measures by controlling expenditures. Solid steps should be taken by departments themselves and subsidies being given to various sectors should be lessened.
“Attention should be paid to public-private partnerships for development works and a compact program should be devised to provide relief to commoners.” Chairman of the Planning and Development Board gave briefing over the annual development program for 2020-21. Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht, Adviser Dr Salman Shah, chief secretary, finance secretary, special monitoring unit chief and others attended the meeting.
Addressing the participants, the CM said that budget priorities are needed to be focused, in the backdrop of the prevailing situation, as the country is facing an unusual situation due to coronavirus pandemic. While announcing that the social sector, including healthcare, will be given importance, the CM directed to further decrease unnecessary expenditures in the next financial year and stressed that provincial departments will have to follow strict financial discipline. Austerity should be encouraged by controlling expenditures at every level, he said.
The departments should, themselves, decrease their unnecessary expenditures and solid steps be taken for a further decrease in expenditures in the next financial year. The CM mentioned that decrease in subsidies, being given in different sectors, should be reviewed and attention be given to public-private partnership in next year’s ADP.
Similarly, a comprehensive program be devised for giving relief to the common man as the government is committed to protecting the indigent strata despite difficult circumstances.
The CM has said that credit goes to the PTI government for launching the largest financial aid programme. He announced that an amount of Rs7.87 billion has been distributed in more than six lac and 56 thousand deserving families under CM Punjab Insaf Imdad Package and Ehsaas Programme. A most transparent aid distribution system has been devised to help the needy, he added. Such programs were launched in the past for personal projection and rights of the needy were usurped by an undue distribution of resources, the CM concluded.
Chief Minister Usman Buzdar attended the prayer meeting at his office to pay homage to late PTI MPA Shaheen Raza on Thursday. The participants expressed a deep sense of sorrow over the death of Shaheen Raza due to coronavirus and offered Fateha for the departed soul.
The CM paid tributes to her socio-political services and announced to name an institute in Gujranwala after her.
