MULTAN: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that steps are being taken to eliminate a sense of deprivation among the people of South Punjab.

The prime minister said this while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a flyover at Chungi No 8 here on Sunday.

He said President Asif Ali Zardari would soon visit Multan to seek suggestions from local politicians and other people as to how the government could remove the deprivation of the people of South Punjab.

Mr Gilani said the government had launched development projects to bring the people of Seraiki wasaib into the national mainstream.

He said the manifesto committee had been constituted to give a separate status to the southern belt.

He said frantic efforts were being made for the well-being of the people while strengthening of democracy and institutions were the steps being taken in this direction.

“The democratic government will concentrate on resolving the issues of the masses during the remaining two years in power,” he said.

The prime minister said the government had adopted a reconciliation policy which had help in taking decisions with consensus on various issues of national importance such as NFC Award.

“We have taken some tough decisions in the best interest of the country, but some elements are propagating that we have failed to deliver,” he said.

LAWYERS:The prime minister met with a seven-member delegation of lawyers and handed over them cheques as financial assistance for Multan and Bahawalpur bars, reports APP.

Soon after his arrival at the airport, Gilani met with a delegation of lawyers consisting of Multan High Court Bar Association President Chaudhry Sagheer Ahmad, Bahawalpur High Court Bar Association President Muhammad Sharif Bhatti, Bahawalpur District Bar Association President Muhammad Naveedur Rehman, Habibullah Shakir, Usman Khosa, A.R. Aurangzeb and Muhammad Amir Channar.

The prime minister handed over a Rs20 million cheque to Mr Ahmed president as financial assistance to the High Court Bar, Multan, and Rs5 million cheque each to the president of the Bahawalpur District Bar and the president of High Court Bar Association, Bahawalpur.

Mr Gilani promised that financial assistance would also be provided to the Dera Ghazi Khan bar soon.