LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has alleged that the federal government led by Shehbaz Sharif was committing enmity with the people of Punjab by not giving wheat to the province.

“The federal government gave wheat to all the provinces except Punjab. It gave wheat to Sindh but disallowed Punjab to import wheat; he said while talking to media after launching ‘The Punjab Dementia Plan’ here on Wednesday.

Elahi maintained that the federal government has to pay dues of Rs170 billion to the Punjab government and it has also stopped it. The PML-N was openly hostile to Punjab and in these circumstances, how do they ask for votes from the people of Punjab, he questioned.

He announced to approach the Supreme Court on the issue of the non-provision of wheat to Punjab.

The CM maintained that Punjab belongs to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and they support his Long March. He criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for failing to deliver and resolve issues of the people. Unfortunately, the federal government is facing dementia, but they would provide them with treatment.

The CM said that the disease of dementia was spreading in the country but elderly persons could not feel it. With increasing age, memory goes away due to dementia, he added. “Society should fulfil the responsibility to treat elderly people suffering from this disease and Punjab is the first province where a dementia plan has been introduced with the support of WHO,” he said.

“Currently, there are about 0.4 million dementia patients in Pakistan and the number is increasing day by day. The worrying thing is that 90 percent of dementia patients are not diagnosed. A dementia patient becomes a liability, not only for the family but also for society. Adequate measures were needed to treat dementia so that the patient and his family could be supported,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022