Current Economic Challenges Result Of Poor Policies Of Previous Govt: Ahsan Iqbal

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said the economic crisis and terrorism challenges being faced by the country were created by the poor policies of the previous government

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Feb, 2023 ) :Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said the economic crisis and terrorism challenges being faced by the country were created by the poor policies of the previous government.

Talking to media during his visit to the Command and Control Center of Green Line BRTS at the Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL) office, the minister said funds worth Rs 470 billion were disbursed to the KP government in the last 9 years for anti-terrorism purposes, however, the PTI-led KP government distributed the funds among its MNAs and MPAs instead of utilizing them for the said purpose.

As a result, he added, the KP's CTD remained inefficient to counter terrorism in the province while Shehbaz Sharif, during his tenure as the CM Punjab, made the CTD Punjab the most effective and capable institution.

Ahsan Iqbal said the PTI government, in its 9 years of rule in KP, did not make any steps to start the safe city project in Peshawar, which was the most affected city by terrorism in the country.

He said the incumbent government, within a short period of its tenure, would take the measures to bring the country out of economic crisis and would take steps for an everlasting solution to the crisis.

The minister said steps would be taken to make the export-based economy and the private sector would be provided all needed support by the government in this regard. Youth of the country would be equipped with IT skills and programmes would be launched by the government to impart vocational and technical training to youth so that they could meet the needs of the international job market, he added.

The minister said the public would hold the PTI leadership accountable for their poor performance, wrong decisions, and putting the country in an economic crisis.

Ahsan Iqbal said the PTI leadership was working on an agenda to create anarchy in the country. The party had launched an unexampled campaign against the state institutions and was attempting to create differences among the institutions and masses, he added.

To a question, he responded that despite not winning any seats from Karachi, the PML-N government launched mega public transport and other projects in the city, keeping in view that the city was the financial capital of the country.

The PML-N government considered serving Karachi as its responsibility and took measures during its tenure to improve the law and order situation in the provincial metropolis.

Replying to another query, the minister said the federal government would provide all needed cooperation to the provincial government for further improvement in the law and order situation of the megalopolis.

While responding to a question about rumors pertaining to the derailment of democracy, Ahsan Iqbal said there were no chances of derailment of democracy in the country. Anyone talking about the derailment could be an enemy of Pakistan, not a friend, he added.