Treasury 'a trust of nation', Buzdar responds to Fawad's criticism of CMs

LAHORE: The Treasury is "a trust of the nation", Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said Friday, responding to criticism by federal minister of science and technology, Fawad Chaudhry, earlier in the day.

"We have done away with the culture of showoffs' extravagant and reckless spending," Buzdar said. "We consider the government's Treasury a trust of the nation.

The chief minister added that the former governments had used the Treasury as something free but the incumbent leadership was more mindful and understood that the Treasury was entrusted to them.

"Unnecessary expenditures have been curtailed to a great extent," he added.

Earlier today, Chaudhry had said the chief ministers' discretion over funds was a violation of the Constitution's Article 140-A — which pertains to local governments and the provinces' responsibilities.

In his tweet, the federal minister had said the problem did not just pertain to the Punjab government but was about the distribution of resources. "The provinces should distribute funds to their districts the same way the centre distributes them to the provinces.

"The chief ministers think of themselves as kings and that's against public interest," Chaudhry had added.