The track record of Punjab government of walking the talk has been abjectly poor whether it is the control of load shedding of electricity, providing relief to the poor, fulfilling the promise of providing subsidy to rice growers or bringing the less developed areas of the province at par with the developed ones, said Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President PPP Central Punjab in a statement issued from here today.
He welcomed the Ramzan packages of Rs. three billions announced yesterday by Punjab government adding these programmes unfortunately had not accrued matching relief to the needy people in the past thus ruining the very purpose of such packages at the expense of the poor of the province.
He observed that the Ramzan Package of Rs, three billions announced yesterday should also not meet the same ill- fate as salesmen at the subsidized outlets possibly would not entertain the poor on the pretext of “out of stock” because the hoarders and the profiteers had already taken away the items in collusion with the officials.
The Chief Minister of Punjab should not be contended with issuing frequent statements giving instructions to the administrative machinery to ensure the availability of food items to the poor and those who were found responsible for syphoning off the goods should be given exemplary punishment. Such platitudes would not deter the criminals who operate with impunity, he added.
He said that it would be test of the efficacy of the Punjab government to ensure the aviliabity of the subsidized items in the designated outlets only as their sale in the open market would tarnish the image of the good governance of this government.
He suggested that the Ramzan Package amount instead should be disbursed through framework of the Benazir Income Support Programme(BISP) among the recipients of BISP because the list of the deserving families under the programme had been prepared very carefully, and audited by the third party. The outreach of BISP among the most vulnerable sections of the society had earned acclaims at the international level, he argued.
He maintained that the BISP was solely meant for the poor people and it had no political overtones adding it also served as an effective instrument for empowerment of women because the women head of the family was entitled to receive the financial assistance.
The money thus given will serve the purpose of the Ramzan Package better because it would reach in the hands of those who are the poorest of the poor, he maintained.
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