MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday invited leaders from the opposition parties to join the government in efforts to make southern Punjab a province.
Qureshi, in a tweet, said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) manifesto promises the creation of a separate province for the people of the south — the poorest in the nation’s richest province.
I welcome all opposition leaders to put the longstanding desire of the people of South Punjab foremost. Together we must reach consensus on passage of a Constitutional amendment for the creation of a separate province for South Punjab. https://t.co/xDF2qrJMmT
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) January 19, 2022
Irrespective of political affiliation, the national interest requires unity on a constitutional amendment, he added.
Southern Punjab — one of the most impoverished parts of South Asia — has been run by major landowners for centuries. The loyalty of thousands of families used to be unquestioning.
In 2018, Imran Khan agreed to hive off a new province and scooped up the support of a political bloc led by now-minister Khusro Bakhtyar.
Qureshi said that as a party, we continue to work consistently to deliver on recognition of south Punjab as an independent province and we have instituted separate administration, structure, budgets, jobs and benefits with over 35 percent development budget for south Punjab and ring-fencing to stop financial re-appropriation.
“Through reform, our focus is socio-economic uplift. The South Punjab Civil Secretariat under an Additional Chief Secretary is manifest of this as is setting up district development coordination committees to improve service delivery for ease and convenience of people of South Punjab,” he added.
I welcome all opposition leaders to put the longstanding desire of the people of south Punjab foremost. Together we must reach a consensus on the passage of a Constitutional amendment for the creation of a separate province for South Punjab, Qureshi added.
In April, Prime Minister Khan gave the nod to a plan envisaging the development of south Punjab as a separate “administrative zone” in the province with an all-powerful secretariat to tackle issues ranging from lack of resources to under-representation of the region’s populace in public sector jobs.
