CM vows to protect officials from threats

Punjab government stands behind its honest and hardworking officers and would not tolerate any threat to them, Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said on Saturday.

Reacting over opposition leaders’ remarks against government officers, he said threatening the government officers was an illegal act, which would not be tolerated. The government will not sit quietly if someone threatens the officers and such elements will be dealt with iron hands besides legal action.

Buzdar alleged the opposition leaders, upon the exposure of their corruption, were leveling false allegations against government officers. He maintained the opposition’s statement about government officials was highly regrettable and condemnable.

He said that no government official would accept the pressure of corrupt gangs. “The government is standing with honest and hardworking officials. If anyone has a complaint about the rules and regulations, then he should adopt the legal way. The time has passed when desirable results could be achieved by harassing government officers and now work is done on merit,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja also termed the opposition’s allegations against government officials over the Sharif family residence registry issue highly deplorable. The minister said that PML-N leader Rana Sannaullah’s inappropriate remarks about government officers were reflective of his approach, “which cannot shake our commitment”.

The minister said that honest and hardworking officers were respectable and an asset of the nation. “Government employees are bound to discharge their obligations according to rules and regulations and cannot violate them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2021.