WHILE the Punjab chief minister deserves praise for pinpointing the cause of criminal negligence of a pharmaceutical company responsible for manufacturing spurious drugs with a deadly mixture, resulting in deaths of over 132 poor people, he needs to explain his misuse of discretionary powers.

State funds and grants for healthcare should only be given to those who cannot afford it such as the poor, orphans, widows and pensioners, instead of giving them to politically important persons with assets (declared and undeclared) running into several billion rupees. It seems that the abuse of state funds by elected executive and the paid bureaucracy has become a norm by federal and provincial governments, the khaki elite and state-owned corporations.

How can the Punjab chief minister justify allocation of Rs1.2 million to a vocal MPA, who never tires of claiming to represent the poor, but has done nothing except play politics during the past four years, while thousands of those misplaced by floods in Sindh live in conditions not even fit for animals?

ANEELA CHANDIO Sukkur