Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has come down hard on his own party’s government in Punjab, saying its below-par performance was mounting pressure on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its government at the Centre.
Chaudhry strongly criticised the performance of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and his government at the party’s core-committee meeting, held in Islamabad on Thursday, sources said.
“Punjab government is failing to deliver, and this is mounting pressure on PTI,” he was quoted as saying in the meeting.
The federal minister said the provincial government had failed to meet expectations on both political and administrative fronts.
He said out of Rs350 billion development budget, the Punjab government had thus far released only Rs77 billion, adding that development funds were not being transferred to the districts.
Chaudhry also took to Twitter to express his dismay on Friday, saying chief ministers considered themselves as ‘kings’ which was not in the public interest.
“This is not an issue of Punjab government but a matter pertaining to distribution of resources. Arbitrary funds of chief ministers are against Article 140-A … provinces should transfer funds to districts the same way the Centre does it to provinces … chief ministers considers themselves as kings and this is against the public interest,” he wrote.
The science and technology minister also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, asking him to take notice of the issue. He said according to Article 140-A, every province was bound to share political, administrative and financial responsibilities with the local government. He said just like the previous government of Shahbaz Sharif, the PTI government had also failed to announce National Finance Commission (NFC) Award in Punjab. “Your Excellency [PM Imran] has always laid great emphasis on the establishment of a strong local government system which entails equitable distribution of resources among all the provinces, but this is not possible without timely announcement of the NFC Award,” he wrote.
