LAHORE, Nov 16: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz announced here on Tuesday that he would address the nation on Friday to unfold vision and agenda of his government.
He was speaking to a select gathering at the Governor's House after exchanging Eid greetings with Governor Khalid Maqbool.
The prime minister, who arrived here in the morning, earlier went to the residence of Federal Industries Minister Jehangir Tareen to condole the death of his mother. He also spent some time at the residence of Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
He was received at the airport by the governor, the chief minister and senior officials of the provincial government.
"I will take people into confidence on Friday," the prime minister said while offering Eid greetings to the people.
He said it remained peaceful on Eid because of the blessings of Ramazan and the efforts of all the chief ministers.
Mr Aziz said according to his independent assessment, sales this Eid were around 15 to 20 per cent higher than the previous year's indicating that the purchasing power of the people had increased.
He regretted that people had degrees but not jobs. "We have to give them skills to absorb them in the local industry which lacked skilled manpower. We have to restructure the education system so as to produce skilled manpower," he said.
The prime minister said the government had ensured stability of prices (of daily-use items) during Ramazan to facilitate the people. And the emphasis had been on ensuring regular supply of commodities.
"I have asked for the import of 1.5 million tons of wheat. We released 50,000 tons of sugar in Ramazan, which helped in keeping its rates stable. We have kept the prices of petrol and diesel frozen and because of this our (oil) prices are 30 to 35 per cent lower than those of India," he said.
Mr Aziz said all steps were being taken while keeping in view the national interests and there was no personal agenda to advance. "We know that we have to work and we cannot bluff the people with empty slogans," he said.
Earlier, during the meeting with the chief minister, he expressed his satisfaction over the law and order in the Punjab. He said the reform programme of the government was creating an overall good impact.
He appreciated the provincial government for keeping up the pace of development, maintaining law and order and the financial discipline.
The chief minister urged the federal government to provide additional resources for the ongoing and new development projects.
He said the social development projects launched jointly by the federal and the provincial governments had helped accelerate the overall progress.
Pervaiz Elahi said the provincial government's reforms in the education, health, agriculture, communication and works and other sectors were giving best results.
The prime minister left for Islamabad in the afternoon.
