LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has set an example of austerity by significantly reducing expenditures of the Chief Minister’s office.
According to official sources here on Sunday, the national resources were ruthlessly used in the name of CM office expenditures in 2017-18, which was the last tenure of Shehbaz Sharif.
The Chief Minister’s Office released a comparison of the expenditures made during Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure in the financial year 2017-18 and the government of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in the financial year 2020-21. The total expenditure of the Chief Minister’s office during Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure in 2017-18 was more than Rs 230 million whereas the same was only above Rs 140 million in Usman Buzdar’s tenure in 2020-21.
According to details, more than Rs 40 million were spent on the maintenance of vehicles of CM’s office in 2017-18, but more than Rs 10 million were spent under this head in 2020-21 of Buzdar’s tenure. Similarly, Rs 90 million were spent by Shehbaz Sharif’s government in 2017-18 for entertainment and gifts but in the government of Chief Minister’s Usman Buzdar for the financial year 2020-21, this amount was around Rs 40 million.
During the tenure of Shehbaz Sharif in 2017-18, 372, 000 liters oil/ diesel/ petrol was used in CM’s office vehicles which cost the national kitty more than Rs 30 million, whereas the quantity of oil/ diesel/ petrol was limited to 228, 000 litres in Buzdar’s tenure in 2020-21 and Rs 20 million was spent under this head.
The CM said that the culture of luxuries had been eliminated. The former governments mercilessly utilized the national exchequer but the Buzdar government was the custodian of every single penny of government resources. He said, “People have the first right over the national resources, not the elites. ” He said that the elite and mafia together looted the resources of the country in the name of security, constructing and repair of private residences.