LAHORE: Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly, Mahmoodur Rasheed, on Monday submitted an adjournment motion against the kidnapping and disappearance of “some 652 children” in the last six months.

He also submitted a resolution on the death of five people by a recklessly- driven dumper working on the Orange Line train project.

Mr Rasheed demanded the government should take measures to check the incidents of kidnapping of children and recover those who were kidnapped. He demanded the Punjab Assembly Speaker to allow debate on the subject and seek explanation from police.

He also demanded that the bereaved families of those killed by the dumper should be compensated financially by the government.

The opposition leader stated that the Orange Line train had claimed lives of some four dozen people so far and that it would destroy the province’s economy when it would become operational.

Giving statistics, he said some 250,000 people would travel by the train on a daily basis and pay Rs40 fare and get Rs131 subsidy each. In this situation, he said, the project would face a deficit of Rs32.7 million on daily basis, Rs982.5 million monthly and Rs11.79 billion annually. He said the project would benefit only two per cent of the Lahore population, but the 100 million Punjab population would continue paying the price for years to come.

YASMIN: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman’s adviser Dr Yasmin Rashid has dubbed the rulers as “facilitators” in the implementation of “anti-people” policies. Stating that only the rulers and their cronies had earned prosperity and development, she observed the government was spending public money extravagantly on “unimportant projects”, while ignoring the real problems being faced by the masses in the province.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016