Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday asked the parliamentarians to focus on development schemes aimed at improving the quality of life of common man. "The stress should be on provision of basic facilities, quality of work and to bring about a meaningful change in the lives of the people," he told a group of parliamentarians who called on him at the Prime Minister Secretariat.
Talking to three separate groups of parliamentarians from Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Vehari, Lodhran, Khanewal, Pakpattan and Sahiwal, he said the government has allocated an amount of Rs five million for each member of the National Assembly to undertake development work.
The schemes, he said should cater to provision of clean drinking water, sewerage, health, education, roads, provision of electricity and natural gas and those, which create new employment opportunities.
He directed the parliamentarians to ensure quality of the development schemes in their respective areas by regular monitoring and proper implementation.
He said the government was aware of the problems of the common man, particularly the salaried and the fixed income group and measures were being taken to check inflation.
He said for this purpose, the government has imported wheat, urea and subsidised petroleum prices so as to maintain a check on the prices of essential commodities.
Referring to a number of ongoing development projects across the country, he said these have generated economic activity and created new job opportunities.
He said the government would induct additional 20,000 lady health visitors to provide better maternal health care in the rural areas of the country.
Prime Minister Aziz said his government never makes a promise, which it could not fulfil, as it believes that the relationship with the people was based on mutual trust.
The MNAs appreciated policies of the government and assured the Prime Minister of their support in implementation of government programmes and policies to improve the standard of living of people.
They also apprised him about the problems faced by the people in their respective constituencies and discussed party matters.
Those who called on the Prime Minister included Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq, Minister for Information Technology Sardar Awais Ahmad Leghari, Minister of State for Railways Aftab Ahmed Khichi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister of State for Local Government Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal Warriach, Makhdoom Syed Alam Anwar, Muhammad Farooq Azam, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Khawaja Shiraz Mahmood, Sardar M. Nasrullah Dareshak, Nawab Amanullah Khan, Muhammad Akhtar Kanju, Rai Azizullah Khan, Pir Muhammad Shah Khaggah, Ahmad Raza Maneka and Dr Junaid Mumtaz Joya.