Punjab govt spends millions to inaugurate Danish schools

As part of austerity drive, chief minister had banned the use of sugar in tea.

LAHORE:

Although the Punjab government claims to be on an austerity drive, it has spent Rs12 million only on inauguration ceremonies for two Danish schools.

One school was inaugurated in Rahim Yar Khan and another in Hasilpur. The inaugural ceremony of a third school is yet to be held, which was postponed twice because the chief minister was not free to attend, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The red-carpet ceremonies were attended by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his brother PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, ruling party legislators, officials of donor agencies, educationists and journalists, among others.

As many as 30 people were flown from Lahore for a night. They returned on a Daewoo bus. The amount of Rs12 million does not include travel expenditures. Some participants were also paid stipend by the government.

To arrange inaugural ceremonies for three schools, the finance department released funds of Rs12.03 million as supplementary grant.  The funds were given to District Coordination Officers (DCO) in Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalnagar.

The Danish schools aim to fight poverty by educating gifted children from the underprivileged and vulnerable classes of society, said an official.

An official of the finance department said the Punjab government was in a financial crisis since the present political class took over. The government has had to avail overdraft to run government affairs. Presently, the overdraft amounts to Rs15 billion.

Shahbaz launched an austerity drive in the public sector to curtail current expenditure. The chief minister even banned the use of sugar in tea in all public offices as a step towards austerity.

However, the government itself lavishly spent money from the public exchequer for their publicity campaigns, he added.

Punjab government spokesperson Muhammad Aslam Dogar said the functions were arranged because foreigners and officials of donor agencies attended it. They were not lavish functions, he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2011.