Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has strongly criticized the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government while announcing major welfare initiatives across Punjab for poor and landless farmers.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the electric bus service in Rajanpur, she said that the Punjab government would provide three to five acres of state-owned agricultural land to poor people so that the rural population could gain dignified employment and become self-reliant.
While speaking at the event, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, without naming the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, she strongly criticized by saying “some governments deprive people of their rights and happiness, whereas her government believes in providing facilities to the public”. She said that in just two years, Punjab’s destiny had been changed and the fruits of development were reaching the common people.
She further criticized the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, saying that when people ask questions there, they are told, “We have given you awareness.” She sarcastically asked whether people would now eat “awareness” instead of medicines. She added ,”there is such disparity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that there is one standard of life for the common people and a completely different one for the children of the rulers.
Maryam Nawaz said that today PTI workers were sitting behind bars, while the children of the ruling elite were living luxurious lives in the UK and other countries. According to her, “the future of workers’ and voters’ children lies in jails, while the future of rulers’ children is secured abroad—this double standard has now become clear to the public.”
She declared the overall performance of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government as zero and said that if real work had been done there, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi would have listed development projects instead of making allegations.
Referring to an incident, Maryam Nawaz said that when a young girl asked a question, Sohail Afridi responded by saying it seemed she was from the opposition, which, she said, proved that the ability to tolerate critique had ended there.
She said that in Punjab, work was progressing rapidly on modern transport, health, education, and agricultural reforms. The electric bus project was an important step toward reducing environmental pollution, providing public convenience, and building a modern Punjab. The launch of development projects in underdeveloped areas like Rajanpur proved that the government was not limited to big cities only.
In conclusion, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that they had changed the direction of Punjab in just two years, while despite many years in power, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were still deprived of basic facilities. She said “the public is now comparing performance, not slogans”.
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