'Punjab government endures huge debt of Rs 700 billion': privatisations of institutions opposed

Expressing grave concern over the state of affairs in the country particularly in Punjab, Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) senior leader and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Saturday said Punjab was now under huge debt of 700 billions of rupees whereas we had left a surplus of Rs 100 billion.
"The map of Punjab could have been changed if they had continued our almost completed projects worth Rs 35 billion, even after getting Rs 100 billion more than earlier under the NFC Award prosperous Punjab of our tenure was victim of lack of resources due to 'Sheikh Chill' projects."
Elahi said, while addressing Labour Convention at the Muslim League House on Saturday. Elahi maintained that we had created one million jobs every year, but now rulers were snatching even bread from the poor workers, who were selling their children and committing suicides because they could not feed them.
The industrial zones already established should be made functional and run instead of snatching away agricultural land of Sheikhupura from farmers and rendering them jobless, he added. Elahi further said that electricity has been made so costly that it has gone out of the reach of the people.
He further said that sports would have been promoted in the province if the wasted millions of rupees on festivals were given to schools, colleges and district sports bodies and sportsmen would have got due encouragement. He stated that we had established social security hospitals in industrial cities, constructed Labour Complex at Rs two billion worth, Sunder Industrial Estate, constructed new labour colonies, increased food allowance for sick industrial workers by 100 per cent and death grant by 50 per cent, approved marriage allowance for all workers daughters instead of just two daughters and the amount was raised to Rs 75,000 from Rs 30,000 whereas now prices of all articles including atta, rice, ghee have increased many times as compared to our tenure.
Through the resolutions adopted at the convention, it was demanded that labour colonies should be established in all cities as was done during the government of Parvez Elahi. It was demanded that railways, PIA, Steel Mills and other big institutions should not be privatised and marriage grant for workers daughters should be restored.
Addressing the convention, Elahi said that many hospitals and schools could be constructed by billions of rupees dumped in jangla bus project; it could be spent on deserving patients for provide free medicines whereas they could establish housing colonies for the workers. Elahi further said that instead of carry forward our workers friendly projects in Punjab, the present rulers even withdrew the facilities given by us to the workers. Chaudhry Zaheeruddin Khan, Sajjad Baloch, Sh Faqeer Hussain Wadera, Raja Imtiaz, Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf, Rana Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Salim and Ayesha Shaikh also spoke on the occasion.