In a surprising turn of events, the PPP in Punjab have handed over a list of 19 points to be implemented by the PML-N led government in Punjab. It seemed till now that the PPP was only ever going to receive agendas to implement and that the right winged, PML-N and establishment paid media would only raise the matter to put pressure on the sitting government.

PPP’s Senior Minister in the Punjab Government have given a laundry list to the PML-N. It may be noted that the 10-point agenda given by the the PML-N to the PPP led federal government is currently being delibrated upon with various meetings taking place. ON the other hand, the mouth of Faisalabad, Rana Sanaullah has already rapped the 19-point agenda

May we suggest humbly, that the points given by the PPP are very much implementable and under 100% control of the PML-N government. These are not related to “finishing ghurbat” or “ending corruption”, instead these are very much possible. But the question is, would it take these steps? More so, would the right wing media exert pressure on the PML-N! We doubt it.

The list of 19 points are as follows:

1. Termination of corrupt provincial ministers whose departments had been reshuffled in the past;
2. Empowerment of ministers and holding of monthly review meetings to evaluate performance of departments;
3. Periodic Cabinet meetings as required under the Constitution of once a month;
4. The formula for allocation of funds as agreed between the two parties be implemented in letter and in spirit;
5. Process of appointments in Zakat and Market Committees be made transparent and people with impeccable integrity be appointed to fill the slots;
6. Reasons behind failure of sasti roti scheme and food stamp scheme be made public and looted money be brought back from responsible persons;
7. Immediate steps should be taken to tackle ongoing financial crisis in the province and action should be taken against those responsible for the financial mess;
8. The process of all ongoing and future development projects be made transparent by taking the Cabinet into confidence;
9. All corrupt and inefficient officers in Punjab be identified and punished besides observing the principle of merit and seniority in postings and transfers of officers;
10. Certain actions taken to benefit certain persons during the floods be identified and action should be taken;
11. Effective measures should be taken to check growing incidents of ransom for kidnapping, dacoities and thefts besides formulating a comprehensive strategy to prevent these crimes in future;
12. All political appointments made in autonomous institutions be undone and rules be followed in this regard;
13. All task forces be dissolved and their funds be spent on public welfare;
14. The trend of changing political loyalties in Punjab must be discouraged by implementing CoD;
15. Toeing the footsteps of Federal government, all women legislators in Punjab be allowed to identify development schemes;
16. Local Bodies elections should be held immediately so that benefits of local governments could reach the people;
17. Essential commodities be made available for the poor by evolving an effective price control mechanism;
18. All DCOs should be asked to ensure minimum wages amounting to Rs 7000 to the labourers and
19. Provincial Ministers should be allotted 10-marla houses as official residence and the remaining amount be spent on the welfare of class-VI employees.

19-point agenda for PML-N: A taste of its own medicine

LAHORE: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday came up with its own set of proposals for the Punjab government to counter PML-N’s 10-point agenda that the latter had handed to the federal government with a 45-day deadline. In effect, the junior partner in the Punjab government let the PML-N have a taste of its own medicine.

Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz Ahmed told a press conference that the provincial parliamentary party of PPP had sent a 19-point agenda to the chief of PML-N Mian Nawaz Sharif for improving the performance of the Punjab government.

The PPP has asked Sharif to remove corrupt provincial ministers whose portfolios were changed in the recent past over corruption and negligence charges.

The party has also demanded holding of local government elections as early as possible and action against officials responsible for failure of Sasti Roti and food stamp schemes.

All contractual appointments made on the basis of political affiliations of retired officers should be terminated immediately.

The party’s agenda document also notes ruefully that the performance of provincial departments was zero. It demands that the provincial ministers should be fully empowered to run the given departments independently. The chief minister should hold monthly cabinet meetings which is mandatory under the law.

Development funds should be distributed among the coalition partners according to the agreed formula and appointments of Zakat and Market committee members should be made on merit and in a transparent manner. A strong strategy should be outlined to overcome the financial crisis faced by the government.

Action should be initiated against officials with bad reputation and future postings should be made on merit and seniority basis, Punjab’s senior minister said.

It was observed that a lobby benefited from the relief and rehabilitation operation launched in the flood-stricken areas. It should be held accountable over misuse of funds.

It was pointed out in the PPP agenda that the crime rate had jumped in the province. The government should take practical steps to curb criminal activities in the best interest of the public, it said.

It was further demanded that all task forces should be abolished immediately and the government should discourage turncoats to strengthen political culture in the province.

Development funds on the pattern of federal government should be provided to female legislators and prices of edibles should be strictly monitored. The minimum wages should be fixed at Rs7,000 per month.

Raja said the PPP Punjab chapter had not set a deadline but if these demands were not considered, “then we could explore all options, including approaching the people”.

He said PPP was a coalition partner of the Punjab government but Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif “did not take the issues pointed out by our ministers seriously”.

He said now PPP was demanding that Nawaz intervene in the affairs of the Punjab government for the best interest of the public.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2011.

PPP gives 19-point agenda to Punjab

Source: OUR STAFF REPORTER Submitted 1 day 15 hrs ago LAHORE – The PPP’s Parliamentary party in Punjab Assembly has written a letter to PML-N Quaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif asking him to provide guidance and leadership to Punjab government for implementation of its 19-point agenda to ensure good governance in the province.

The contents of the letter were made public at a news conference addressed by Punjab Senior Minister, Raja Riaz alongwith other PPP Ministers at his residence on Thursday. Ashraf Sohna, Farooq Yousuf Ghurki and Dr Tanvirul Islam accompanied him. Raja Riaz told reporters that following a dismal response from Punjab Chief Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to address peoples’ problems, his party had decided to seek PML-N Quaid’s help by identifying 19 major problems faced by the people in Punjab.

He complained that despite sincere cooperation from PPP side, Shahbaz Sharif had failed to resolve peoples’ problems, who, he believed, were unhappy with the Punjab government.

‘In view of growing price hike, deteriorating law and order situation, increased number of dacoities and thefts and other numerous issues, it has become essential that Nawaz Sharif should provide guidance and leadership to Punjab govt’, he said.

‘I am attaching some suggestions in the form of 19-points and as you expect implementation of certain things from Federal government for welfare of the people, I hope you will play your due role in Punjab as well’, reads an extract from Raja Riaz’s letter written to Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Raja said PPP had given no deadline for implementation of its 19-points because his party had no personal or political motives behind the underlined problems.

The 19-points as highlighted by PPP include:1-Termination of corrupt provincial ministers whose departments had been reshuffled in the past; 2-Empowerment of ministers and holding of monthly review meetings to evaluate performance of departments;3-Periodic Cabinet meetings as required under the Constitution; 4-The formula for allocation of funds as agreed between the two parties be implemented in letter and in spirit; 5-Process of appointments in Zakat and Market Committees be made transparent and people with impeccable integrity be appointed to fill the slots; 6-Reasons behind failure of sasti roti scheme and food stamp scheme be made public and looted money be brought back from responsible persons; 7-Immediate steps should be taken to tackle ongoing financial crisis in the province and action should be taken against those responsible for the financial mess; 8-The process of all ongoing and future development projects be made transparent by taking the Cabinet into confidence; 9-All corrupt and inefficient officers in Punjab be identified and punished besides observing the principle of merit and seniority in postings and transfers of officers; 10-Certain actions taken to benefit certain persons during the floods be identified and action should be taken; 11-Effective measures should be taken to check growing incidents of ransom for kidnapping, dacoities and thefts besides formulating a comprehensive strategy to prevent these crimes in future; 12-All political appointments made in autonomous institutions be undone and rules be followed in this regard; 13-All task forces be dissolved and their funds be spent on public welfare; 14-The trend of changing political loyalties in Punjab must be discouraged by implementing CoD;15-Toeing the footsteps of Federal government, all women legislators in Punjab be allowed to identify development schemes; 16-Local Bodies elections should be held immediately so that benefits of local governments could reach the people; 17-Essential commodities be made available for the poor by evolving an effective price control mechanism; 18-All DCOs should be asked to ensure minimum wages amounting to Rs 7000 to the labourers and 19-Provincial Ministers should be allotted 10-marla houses as official residence and the remaining amount be spent on the welfare of class-VI employees.

Raja Riaz has said that Abdul Qadir Gilani, son of PM Gilani, has resigned from the chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee-II of Punjab Assembly due to personal reasons. He said that Maj. (R) Zulfiqar will be the new chairman of the said committee in place of Abdul Qadir.

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