LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has set an example of austerity by curtailing expenditures of the Chief Minister Office. The Chief Minister’s Office has released a comparative statement of the tenures of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar for the financial year 2020-21 and Shehbaz Sharif (financial year 2017-18) when resources were mercilessly wasted.
During the financial year 2017-18, the overall non-salary expenditures were Rs.238 million while the overall expenditures (non-salary) of CMO amounted to Rs.144 million during 2020-21. Thus, a 40 per cent reduction was noted in the overall expenditures (non-salary) in the tenure of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
An amount of Rs.42 million was spent on the repair of vehicles in 2017-18 whereas Rs.15 million only were appropriated in 2020-21 for the repair of official vehicles, registering a 65 per cent decrease.
Shehbaz Sharif government spent Rs 90 million on entertainment and gifts in 2017-18 while only Rs.44 million were utilized in 2020-21 which was 51 per cent less than the previous government.
Similarly, 3, 72000 liter petrol/ mobil oil/diesel was used for vehicles in 2017-18 while 2, 25000 liter petrol/ mobil oil/diesel were used in 2020-21 recording a 40 per cent saving in vehicles’ fuel.
CM Usman Buzdar said the culture of political jugglery and lavish spending had been done away with, not only in CMO but the whole of the province. The past government wasted public money without any justification while the PTI government was the custodian of every penny, he stressed. People had first right over resources than the elite of the society. Regrettably, the elite and the mafias played havoc with the country in the past but the PTI had eliminated the plunder and the construction and repair of personal residences in the name of security had also been abolished, concluded the CM.