Prime Minister said, “They would have toppled the government a long time ago” if the Opposition’s goal was aligned with the welfare of the people.
“However, their interests are purely personal. They’ve gathered together not for any cause or the sake of the country, but just to bully us into taking back the corruption charges against them that had been pending since before we took power, “the prime minister stated.
They view the people who have been seeing their riches rise over the past 30 years to be stupid, he continued.
“Those who used to ride bicycles now drive Land Cruisers. Those who formerly ran a bicycle shop now live in Mayfair, London, and drive Bentleys and Rolls Royces.
“They live in areas of London where even the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom cannot afford to reside. And, despite having a population of only 30% of that of Pakistan, Britain’s annual revenue is 50 times that of Pakistan, remarked the prime minister.
If they think the people of Pakistan would grab on to their narrative and assist them in gaining NRO, he said that they “don’t know the people of Pakistan.”
“They had no idea we’d be able to recover from this economic downturn.” And now that they’ve seen the projected growth and positive economic indicators, they’re attempting to [create some drama] once more, and I’m sure they’ll try to pull something off during the budget.
“However, come what may, they will not be able to succeed.”
4% growth rate is an achievement
“I am happy with the success we have had so far because no one was expecting about 4% growth, but many experts believe that it could go up to 4.5% or more,” he said.
“It means we went up faster than what we were thinking, and especially what our opponents were thinking, for several reasons,” the premier said.
The Prime Minister said that the two biggest problems of the people are inflation and unemployment. As the growth rate goes up, the wheel of the economy starts turning.
“Sales of tractors and motorcycles have increased by 60 percent. When they start being built, jobs are created, and poverty is reduced. This is the first welcome step,” he added.
The opposition is in confused
“At the time we started our tenure, our opposition said on the first day that we are incompetent and should be expelled, even though we had just started. They knew the difficulties,” he said.
He said that the opposition claims that the elections were not fair, but they did not prove any proof. In the last election, we had mentioned four constituencies. Now they are stuck that a 4% growth rate would not have been possible if there was such an incompetent government. How did it come about? They said that we are incompetent, and now they are confused. To cover their false claims, the opposition is alleging that the stats are fabricated.
The Prime Minister said that we have gone through a challenging and testing time, now we will see this country moving forward.
Committee on Housing Societies under Justice Azmat
“We have set up a board to look into the fact that there are so many housing societies in the country, to find out which ones are legal and which are illegal,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that if the housing societies do not meet the conditions, they will not be sanctioned. We are bringing a new system for such illegal societies where people are now residing, he added.
The premier said that a committee under Justice Azmat Saeed Khosa to look into the matter. We want to make sure that the people get their plots for which they have paid.
Khan said that the government is doing a crackdown against such societies to avoid the scams.
Water shortage in Sindh
A caller from Badin expressed concern about water shortages in the province, claiming that the “Sindh administration is blaming the Centre.”
In response, the prime minister stated that the government would construct ten dams over the next ten years since water storage will enable the country to meet its rapidly growing population requirements.
According to him, this will allow the government to allocate water to provinces on a more equitable basis.
He expressed disappointment that the telemetry system that shows how much water is being delivered to each province is “simply not working.” Still, the administration is trying to have these installed throughout the country.
According to Prime Minister Imran Khan, farmers are not getting their fair share of water, stating that distribution among provinces is a problem.
He stated that the Sindh government must guarantee that the powerful do not take away the share of impoverished farmers.
“If the presence of Rangers is necessary, as a Sindh MPA has requested, we will provide it,” the prime minister remarked.
Rawalpindi Ring Road project
He added the Rawalpindi Ring Road project is crucial to the city’s revitalization and will include a business zone on Nala Lai.
He stated that he had learned of the route being constricted to serve the interests of specific groups, which a fact-finding committee validated.
“A formidable anti-corruption squad is working on this right now, and we’ll have our results in the next two weeks.”
“Instead of the circuitous 20-26km course that had previously been carved out to favour some individuals,” he stated, “now a straight path would be set out.”
Patients with health cards not being entertained by hospitals
Complaining to the Prime Minister, a woman asked whether the health card was of any use as people’s cards were not being recognized in hospitals.
Answering the woman, Khan said that people in Punjab are not used to it yet, so there are problems. People do not know what a blessing health card is.
He said that a family in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has Rs. 1 million in health cards. They can go to any government hospital and get any treatment up to Rs. 1 million.
He said that health cards had been issued to all in the Sahiwal and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions of Punjab, and by the end of this year, health cards would reach all the districts of Punjab.
The Prime Minister said that the health card is not just a card but a health system. He said that the government would never have enough money to build a network of hospitals across the country.
So there is a need for private hospitals, and all the poor people having health cards can get treatment from any hospital.
He claimed that the health card, along with the duty-free import facility and the cheap sale of land owned by the Auqaf Department, the Evacuee Trust Property Board, and the Railways, will ensure the construction of a network of hospitals across the country, ushering in a new era of health infrastructure.
Computerisation of land records
One caller, an overseas Pakistani whose home has been unlawfully occupied since she left the country, was told by the PM that his staff would check into the situation.
He urged her to complain through the citizen’s portal, emphasising that other persons with similar issues should do the same.
The prime minister also stated that, thanks to satellite technology, all land records will be computerised, making it difficult for land grabbers to take over any property unlawfully.
Police reforms
In response to a caller who expressed dissatisfaction with the way the police operate in Punjab, he stated that it is simpler to develop a new organisation. “One of the most challenging things is bringing reforms to existing institutions,” the premier stated.
“When the cops are employed for horrible things, and you can see how many were employed for extrajudicial executions in Punjab, they grow accustomed to doing horrible things on their own,” said the prime minister.
Khan stated that the administration is striving to fix this but that it would take time because Punjab is a larger province, and the status quo has been in place for 30 years.
“People would soon admire the Punjab police force like they do the KPK police force,” he said.
Agriculture sector
He said that our government has taken big steps in agriculture and given funds to the farmers while encouraging them.
The Prime minister said that the biggest problem was to bring the agricultural produce to the market.
Farmers’ products would be sent straight to shops, he added, adding that virtual markets would be set up for this reason.
Farmers’ problems, he added, include getting rid of their crop swiftly since they are ill-equipped to store it. “Right now, we’re going to create 900 storage facilities so farmers can readily store their crops.”
10 dams in next 10 years
Replying to a question, the Prime Minister said that there is a water problem all over Pakistan. 10 dams are being constructed in Pakistan, which has already started and will be completed in the next ten years.
He said that we should have built water reservoirs long ago because as the population grows and water is becoming scarce due to global warming, so is the water in the provinces.
“The way to do this is to build dams first and then distribute them fairly in the provinces. I am surprised that the telemetry system is not working. We are spending on the technology that will start the work,” he said.
The prime minister said that the distribution of water within the provinces is also a problem because the water of the small-scale farmer is stolen, the powerful take away their lands, and the land of the weak remains dry.
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