Punjab's fiscal performance better than others

LAHORE: Provincial Finance Minister Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha said on Monday the Punjab government's fiscal performance had been much better than that of the other provinces in terms of regional development, while 84 percent of the current provincial budget 2017-18 was being spent on poor strata of the society.

In her speech on the floor of the Punjab Assembly here, she mentioned that this fact could be well-judged by PILDAT (Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency) remarks, in which it termed governance in Punjab much improved, citing that all recruitments were being made on merit and service delivery was also improved substantially.

Dr. Ayehsa added that Punjab’s robust economic growth was mainly because of good governance and well-conceived economic policies. She disclosed to the house that development growth rate was also higher in Punjab than other provinces, as "We have reduced non-developmental expenditure and added the saved amount into the developmental head".

She added that provincial government had strived to make Punjab self-sufficient on all fronts, while mobilizing all available resources and managed to ensure unprecedented increase of 345 percent in its resources for provision of a better living standard to the common man.

The finance minister said the PML-N provincial government had done all this with a missionary zeal of public service and keeping this in view, the people would again repose their confidence in the PML-N by re-electing it in the next general election.

Under the able leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, she said the PML-N government resolved all problems and challenges of governance and service delivery and "Today's Punjab is much better and developed than that of 2008 when our party came into power. And over the last ten years, the people's confidence in the government has not only restored but also the province witnessed massive infrastructural and other development".

All the international and national institutions termed Punjab as a model province due to its huge progress in sectors of education, health, agriculture, land record, social protection, infrastructure, rural development and good governance, she maintained. The Punjab government initiated and completed a number of developmental projects worth billions of rupees, which equally benefited the poor and the rich across the province, she asserted.

The finance minister said due to effective measures of the provincial government, the children enrollment rate had increased and better healthcare facilities for fatal diseases of liver, kidney, heart, hepatitis and other were ensured.

The government, she said, also focused on improving the dispensation of justice system by strengthening the model courts, anti-terrorism courts and counter terrorism department (CTD).

Dr. Ayesha mentioned that the Punjab government also extended all kind of assistance and cooperation to other provinces in the field of education, health and information technology, citing that Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital Swat was a gift by Punjab for the people of KPK.

Since development was impossible without adequate revenue, she said, the government had established Excise and Taxation Department, Punjab Revenue Authority, and Board of Revenue on modern lines through their automation and introducing various strategies, which helped increased the provincial receipts. In this connection, she said, the government had managed to post 345 percent increase in its revenues from 2008 to date.

Though the constitution allowed the incumbent government to present a three-month budget, as other provincial governments used this prerogative but the Punjab government did not do the same while respecting its public mandate, and did not put the burden on the next government enabling it to formulate the budget document as per its priorities.