Punjab most corrupt among provinces: Rasheed

Opposition leader claims crime rate has also increased

LAHORE: Opposition leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed claimed that Punjab received the most complaints against corruption, leaving the other provinces behind. He added that Anti-Corruption Lahore Region alone took in 4,050 complaints in the year 2017.

He was addressing a press conference at the Punjab Assembly on the performance of the provincial government in the last calendar year.

He quoted a report prepared by anti-corruption departments and secret agencies which said Punjab received 20,960 complaints related to misappropriation by officials of the treasury, excise, district, education, health and police departments.

The corresponding department in Sindh received 4,140 complaints, 2,222 in Khyber-Pakhtonkhwa and 136 in Balochistan. He added the crime rate had also increased despite the expenditure of Rs95billion on the Punjab police. He said in the first 15 days of December, 389,987 cases were registered at different police stations of the province. He said incidents of murder, rape, abduction, attempted murder, abduction for ransom and other heinous crimes were reported.

Education

Continuing his tirade against the provincial government, Rasheed stated education authorities could not meet the target of enrolling 600,000 children in government schools. “Their parents preferred private schooling.”

He added that in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 150,000 schoolchildren enrolled in government schools from private institutions.

The opposition questioned the expenditure of Rs3 billion on mega projects if the Punjab government was truly concerned about the future of children in the province.

Clean Drinking Water

The opposition leader also demanded Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar ensure the provision of clean drinking water for common people. Expressing his gloom over the situation, he said Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif could not even provide this most essential commodity and 1,100,000 people had died after consuming toxic water. He stressed Shehbaz was busy spending billions on roads, bridges, flyovers and other infrastructural projects.

Agriculture

He stated the provincial government lacked adequate policy over agriculture, adding that education, health and other sectors had been ruined for the same reason. “Different packages are announced for farmers, but no concrete measures are taken for them,” Rasheed claimed. He concluded the government’s monitoring teams and sugar mafia were exploiting farmers. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2018.