LAHORE: PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal has said that 10 per cent increase in the salaries of the government employees is a joke with them as it should be at least 25pc.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, Mr Ahsan said the PTI government had wasted billions of rupees on the projection of the budget. The government employees had been protesting for the last three years but the government ‘played a joke on them’, first by not giving any increase in their salaries and then gave a meagre raise in comparison with the rising inflation and price hike, he said.

“This inept PTI team has no economic plan as it has failed to give relief to the people. Now this budget will follow a mini-budget burdening the general public immensely,” he said.

Ahsan Iqbal said for defence the government allocated Rs1,370 billion while India had made an increase of 62pc in its defence budget. For CPEC which was a project of Rs1,119bn, the government earmarked only Rs6bn for it this year, showing its lukewarm interest in it.

The PML-N leader said it was unfortunate that for the first time in the democratic history of the country the PTI government passed a legislation to provide relief to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav. He said on this matter the PTI government which used to call others traitors had been fully exposed.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2021