Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman on Wednesday concluded the general debate on the provincial budget, firmly rejecting opposition allegations that it was merely a "game of statistics," that development funds had gone unutilized, and that corruption had increased.
Minister Dismisses Opposition's 'Political Speeches'
Addressing the provincial assembly after a five-day budget debate, the minister said the opposition had focused more on political speeches than on the budget itself and had presented incorrect figures regarding key development projects. The assembly approved 10 demands for grants worth Rs270.53 billion for key departments, including health, education, police, and communications, while rejecting five cut motions moved by the opposition during the budget session.
Defense of Development Spending
The finance minister cited previous budget figures to argue that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) governments had consistently maintained better development spending than their predecessors. Responding to allegations of inflated allocations, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman clarified that Rs196 billion had been earmarked for Nawaz Sharif Medical City, not Rs1.6 trillion as claimed by the opposition. Similarly, Rs50 billion had been allocated for a sports city, not Rs502 billion as alleged by the opposition.
Allocations for South Punjab and Social Welfare
The finance minister announced that Rs556 billion had been allocated for South Punjab, covering 387 development schemes, including Rs38 billion for projects in the riverine (Katcha) areas. Highlighting social welfare initiatives, he said the government had allocated Rs29 billion for the Health Card programme, insisting that it had been improved rather than discontinued. He added that Rs12.6 billion had been earmarked for the Kissan Card programme, Rs5 billion for Dhee Rani, and Rs300 million for the Artist Card initiative.
Corruption Allegations Rebutted
Rejecting allegations of corruption, the minister said the government itself had detected and acted against irregularities in the Suthra Punjab programme. Referring to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, he claimed Pakistan had improved from 140th position during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to 136th in 2025, while the country's ranking had improved from 127th to 117th during the PML-N government between 2013 and 2017.
