By Faizan Khan
LAHORE: Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz has issued a forceful challenge to her political opponents, saying no one could prove “even a single rupee” of corruption in the provincial government’s multitrillion-rupee development projects.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Gujranwala mass transit system, she said the program reflected the continuity of Nawaz Sharif’s development vision in the province. She told the audience that the upcoming Faisalabad metro system, along with the Gujranwala project, would further expand the network started under previous PML-N governments.
Maryam said every major development scheme in Punjab carried the imprint of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, adding that infrastructure, health, education and technology projects were progressing across the province. She claimed Pakistan’s economy had moved out of the danger zone, with inflation falling from 40 percent to around 4 percent, and credited Shehbaz Sharif for “every major turnaround”, from economic recovery to CPEC-linked development.
The chief minister also took aim at political rivals, saying those who had wished for Pakistan to default had been proved wrong. She criticized the PTI’s performance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the province had “nothing to show” after 12 years in power, and accused a former KP chief minister of attacking federal and Punjab institutions instead of focusing on governance.
Maryam highlighted her government’s welfare and housing schemes, saying one million homes were under construction under the “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” initiative, while thousands more had already been completed. She said the “Suthra Punjab” cleanliness program had become one of the largest of its kind in the world and had won praise from international outlets, including Forbes.
