ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan joined the chorus in critisicing the government over the budget presented for the year 2012-13, by condemning the amount allocated to the armed forces. “The budget for the armed forces should be audited.”
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Khan said that in order to stop corruption, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should be allowed to operate “freely”.
He questioned the expenditure for maintaining chief minister houses in all four provinces. “We have four CM houses while the people are starving.”
“The people in power should pursue austerity,” said the PTI chairman. “They should restrict their expenses.”
Khan said that corruption in Pakistan has reached its saturation point. “Either corrupt people will survive or Pakistan will. Corruption in Pakistan has reached a point where they cannot co-exist.”
He alleged that corruption in different government-run cooperations amounted to billions of rupees. “The deficit in Pakistan Steel Mills has reached more than Rs40 billion in the last four years, while corruption done in Pakistan International Airlines and Pakistan Railways is not hidden, too.”
“The outstanding arrears which are a result of 400,000 illegal connections as noted by the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) have to be borne by the consumers in the shape of tariff hikes,” said Khan.
He said that according to a survey conducted by Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), in the last four years, about 2.8 million air conditioners were bought, while bills for only 185,000 were being paid.
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