Punjab ministers to get new Corollas

[Naveed Yaseen]

* ACS says administration executing previous government’s decision

By Anwer Hussain Sumra

LAHORE: The Punjab government will purchase 30 new Toyota Corolla Gli cars (worth Rs 43 million), one each for the provincial ministers, sources have told Daily Times.

They said there were 16 ministers in the previous government, adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had a 10:6 ratio, respectively. They said the new government would have 30 ministers, adding that each minister would be provided one Gli as a staff car. They said the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) had provided vehicles that had been previously used by the provincial ministers when the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was in power. They said former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had declined all summaries for new cars despite repeated requests from the then ministers.

The sources said the S&GAD made a request for a supplementary grant to the Finance Department, adding that the S&GAD had already submitted a summary to the province’s chief executive (Governor Salmaan Taseer) for approval. The governor approved the summary and directed the Finance Department to release the funds as supplementary grant. According to the Finance Department’s policy, the finance secretary is allowed to release Rs 3 million. All funds above Rs 3 million have to be approved by the chief executive. The sources said the vehicles that had not been returned by the previous cabinet members should be provided to their respective parliamentary secretaries.

Previous: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Taimor Azmat Osman said the previous government had decided to purchase the vehicles for parliamentary secretaries, and the administration was only executing that decision.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg13_4