Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman strongly defended the provincial budget during the Punjab Assembly session. He criticised the opposition for allegedly debating the budget without adequate preparation. Furthermore, he highlighted the government’s fiscal performance and welfare spending.
Minister Highlights Budget Performance and Welfare Spending
Concluding the budget debate, Rehman claimed the opposition leader remained unaware of funds allocated for development projects. He said the opposition spent five days discussing the budget without proper preparation.
The minister said the provincial government utilised 93 percent of its development budget during the current fiscal year. Additionally, Punjab achieved 99 percent of its revenue collection target.
He announced Rs556 billion for 387 development schemes in south Punjab. Moreover, the government allocated Rs38 billion for development in the Katcha riverine areas.
The budget also includes Rs29 billion for the Health Card programme. Additionally, Rs12.5 billion was earmarked for the Kisan Card and Rs5 billion for the Dhee Rani Programme.
Rehman clarified that the Health Card programme has not been discontinued. Instead, he said the government redesigned the scheme to improve its effectiveness.
Opposition Criticism and Political Remarks
The finance minister rejected the opposition’s corruption allegations as baseless. He claimed Pakistan’s ranking on international corruption indicators improved over the past two years.
Rehman also argued that Pakistan’s economy would have been stronger if previous Nawaz Sharif governments had completed their terms. Furthermore, he said the current government had not filed politically motivated cases against opponents.
Referring to the May 9 violence, Rehman said the government did not direct attacks on GHQ or Jinnah House. He added that the opposition’s political future depends on sincerely apologising for those incidents.
