LAHORE, July 24: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has reiterated that the federal government is meeting out a stepmotherly treatment to Punjab and people do not even know what they are being punished for.

Talking to residents of Allama Iqbal Town, Muslim Town, Johar Town and Wahdat Colony and PML-N workers and office-bearers at his tent office here on Tuesday, he said the provincial government paid Rs4.5 billion to Pepco, while other provinces and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation were defaulters of billions of rupees.

He said 12-hour loadshedding had made people psychological patients amid large-scale unemployment, but rulers of Islamabad were aggravating the situation by showing complete apathy to people’s problems.

He warned that people would hold the ‘corrupt’ rulers accountable in the next general elections if the situation did not improve.

Sharif said ‘criminal negligence’ of Islamabad stalled the construction of 900MW power generation plants at Chichu Ki Maliyan and Nandipur.

He said people were cursing the federal rulers because loadshedding was being carried out even during Sehr, Iftar and Taraveeh. He urged people to stand up for accountability of the ‘Zardari gang’.

Also, the chief minister chaired a meeting on power generation from alternative sources and the solar panels distribution plan.

Secretaries of energy and agriculture informed him about their visit to China and their talks with Chinese power generation companies.

They said these companies were interested in consultation and cooperation in energy sector.

They said cooperation between Chinese BIO MA company and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad with regard to biogas could be promoted. They said the Chinese company was willing to provide training to Pakistani engineers in biogas.

Sharif said work on 50MW coal power projects at industrial estates under the public private partnership should be expedited.

A committee headed by the planning & development department chairman was formed to purchase solar lamps to be distributed to people in backward areas.