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PML-F seeks debate on 'Bahawalpur province'
By: Irfan Bukhari
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Jahangir Khan Tareen has said that there should be an open debate on the issue of Bahawalpur province.
While responding a query in a press conference here on Monday, Tareen said that the government should start mega development schemes in the region, adding, “But if our demand is not met, the things may go to the streets and the demand for a separate province can catch impetus.”
He asked the federal government to establish Development Equalisation Fund with the allocation of Rs 100 billion for the uplift of southern Punjab and rural Sindh so that the sense of deprivation among the people of the areas could be addressed timely.
“If the government is unable to spend the said amount in one year due to economic constraints, a two to three year development plan for the region could be chalked out to redress the problems of dwellers of the underdeveloped region,” he said after attending party’s parliamentary party meeting at Kingri House.
Tareen said that his party was aware of the government’s difficulties and also knew the challenge of terrorism, so it had supported the federal budget 2009-10. He said that there were many good schemes in new budget but he was sceptical about their implementation. “The previous regimes had been forming such policies but the real issue is their implementation,” he said.
The Nation: June 23, 2009
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