PAT recommends set up of South Punjab province for better governance

Lahore: On the special instructions of Dr. Tahirul Qadri, the chairman of Pakistan Awami Tehreek has instructed the party to prepare suggestions for the next budget of Punjab, which is the largest province of Pakistan. The suggestions have been prepared by the President of PAT Dr. Raheeq Ahmed Abbasi and Punjab president Basharat Jaspal and have been released to the media on Friday.

The two leaders while giving suggestion have said that for better governance a separate province of South Punjab be created, the minimum wages should be fixed at Rs 20,000/- and keeping in mind the rising rate of inflation the salaries be increased by 50 per cent. They were of the view that the government must also consider those people as part of our society who live on saving schemes and the pensioners and for an increase in the rate of profit on saving schemes, and for this the province must seek the help of the Federal Government and a resolution should be passed in the provincial assembly in this regard.

They said that farmers should be brought into the frame of the federation and should be made part of the procurement committees and small farmers should be given special subsidy on diesel and power bills. They said that like wheat, special allocation must also be made for the purchase of the rice crop. They said that the price of wheat flour should be bought down to Rs 10 per kilo and permanent fair price shops be opened and the drama of the Sunday bazars be closed down. They said to stop the brain drainage all highly educated youth be given a stipend equal to the pay of a grade 16 officer till such time that they get jobs.

They were of the view that women should be given an opportunity to get higher education and the schemes of giving them taxis and rickshaws should be stopped. They said that for the promotion of peace and the madrassa be bought into the federal fold and special funds be allocated in the budget for them. And that reforms be bought in the police department and it should be free from all sorts of political influence. They said that apart from failing on the issue of terrorism the Punjab government has also failed to implement the National Action Plan and in this regard not a single military court in functional in Punjab. He said it was the responsibility of the Punjab Government to remove all the hurdles that stood before the military court but to dismay of the public again the Punjab government failed and has to date not made functional any military court.

Speaking of the justice system the PAT leaders said that here to the arm of the police is used to pressurize and eliminate the political opponents of the PML-N and the justice system just remained a silent spectator. He said the Punjab Chief Minister who always spoke of devolution of power, after coming into power has never looked at the promise he made and has miserably failed in this field and no one has seen or heard that the CM ever desires to share his powers with anyone. They said that the South of Punjab should be made into a separate province on administrative basis and before the elections the CM often spoke in this direction.

He said the CM never visits the South of Punjab and only goes when an Arab Prince comes for hunting or when flood hit the areas. The Budget suggestions say that during the era of PML-N the standard of life of the people of the province has considerably gone down, financial mismanagement and corruption has risen, health and Education sectors have failed and have not been able to achieve the goals set under the Millennium Development Goals 2015.

The people have lost faith in the police after the Model Town, Kot Radha Kishen and Youhanabad incidents. In the Budget suggestions it is recommended that South Punjab be made a separate province, massive reforms be introduced in the police and be cleared of any political interference, and after the 18^th Amendment the Police Order 2002 has become redundant and ineffective. It said that despite this the criminal negligence of the Punjab Government is that it failed to introduce any new laws in this regard. It said that the Army should train the policemen and the department be purged of all criminals who are in the different ranks of the police department. Separate section be introduced that should have the responsibility of handling the court issues.

The suggestions further said that to end terrorism and extremism military courts should be set up instantly and the finances the Punjab Government spends on the VVIPs should be utilized for the uplift of the poor people of the province. It further said that the Federal Interior Minister should make public the names of the 95 terrorists organizations that are functioning in Punjab. It said that as over 11 lakh cases are pending in the High Court, it is suggested that High Court Benches be set up at District level which will provide quick and cheap justice to the people. The scope of the Sessions Court be widened to the Tehsil Level and Civil Courts be set up for a population of 50,000 citizen. Free legal advice and service be provided to the poor people of the province. As for the Health sector it was suggested that instantly doctor be appointed in the 600 Basic Health Units where no doctor has been appointed and free medical service and medicines be provided to the poor people of the province.

The report said that vacancies of over 8000 doctor are lying vacant which should be filled immediately. At present a single bed is for a population of 2700 citizen and the need is that the number of beds in each hospital be increased to 10,000. In the education sector special attention be given to this sector and better financial management of the department is suggested. According to the 2014 report of the Auditor General over Rs 150 billion is unaccounted for and despite several attempts the Punjab CM has failed to furnish the whereabouts of this amount. The public wants to know if this amount has been recovered from the district Nazims or not.

The report suggests that the prices of wheat should be monitored and controlled by the government and the outstanding amount of Rs 100 billion be returned to the Punjab Food department. It said that famers should be given representation in the Procurement Committees so that they get a profit on the product they offer in the market. It said that the Punjab Government must stop its violence on the farmers and instead help them.