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Saturday, July 02, 2011
PM vows to provide relief to people in next two yearsStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday said during the next two years, the elected government of Pakistan People’s Party would utilise all its resources to provide maximum relief to the common man to fulfil its promises made in the last elections.
In his monthly live online programme broadcast on Pakistan Television and other private TV channels, he said, 80 percent of the manifesto has been implemented by the government and assured that the remaining 20 percent would be completed within the next two years.
Replying to a question, about the priorities of the government and implementation of the slogan of “roti, kapra and makan”, the prime minister said, the main emphasis during the first three years was on defence of the country, fight against terrorism, improvement in energy supply and strengthening of economic conditions in the country.
The prime minister said besides completing 80 percent implementation on the manifesto, the government had also completed 80 percent implementation on the Charter of Democracy.
Gilani said with financial and monetary reforms, there has been improvement in the economic conditions of the country and the foreign exchange reserves have increased.
He said Pakistan has conveyed to the international community that it needed trade and not aid so that the future of the country could be established on strong footing with self-reliance.
Regarding an improvement in the fiscal policies, the prime minister said the targets of revenue collection by the Federal Board of Revenue have been achieved in the year 2010-11 and assured that these targets would also be met next year.
The prime minister said the Provincial Autonomy Day should be celebrated by all and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which had a contribution in granting of rights to provinces, should not get uneasy on certain issues between Punjab and federal governments. “We can sit in the Council of Common Interests to amicably resolve minor issues,” he added.
He said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave a unanimous Constitution of 1973, according to which the concurrent list should have been abolished in 10 years, giving autonomy and rights to the provinces. The issue of distribution of financial resources was amicably resolved through the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award approved by chief ministers and finance ministers in Gwadar, Balochistan, he added.
He lauded the work of Implementation Commission on constitutional reforms, headed by Raza Rabbani and said the constitutional reforms were put in place after consultation with all stakeholders and political parties including PML-N. He said the reason of separation of East Pakistan 40 years ago was that autonomy was not given to the provinces. Gilani said the 18th and 19th Constitutional Amendments and NFC Award have resulted in relief for the common man and under a formula more financial resources were provided to the provinces.
During the current financial year, the federal government will spend Rs 300 billion and the provincial governments will spend Rs 730 billion on development projects, which will create new jobs and will bring more prosperity, he noted. The prime minister said Benazir Bhutto introduced the policy of Independent Power Producers in 1994 to address the problem of energy shortages. But after her government, the investors in energy projects faced cases and had to leave the country. “So the credit goes to Benazir Bhutto, otherwise the country would have been living in Stone Age,” he said.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk