BAHAWALPUR: Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab Captain (r) Saqib Zafar has said that the Punjab government has allocated a separate budget of Rs 189 billion for development projects in the recent budget which is 35 per cent of the total development budget of the province. He said that Punjab Chief Minister while fulfilling his promise has given the gift of special budget for the development of the region which cannot be shifted in any case and all the budget would be spent only in South Punjab. He expressed these views while addressing a high level meeting held at Bahawalpur Secretariat here. The meeting was attended by secretaries of South Punjab and heads of various departments. The meeting reviewed in detail the development schemes after the recent budget. Additional Secretary Coordination South Punjab Rizwan Qadeer was also present on the occasion. Addressing the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab Captain (r) Saqib Zafar said that the budget allocated for South Punjab includes 2,491 development schemes which will be completed in the current financial year in any case. After the budget, the South Punjab Secretariat has got full financial powers. Now the journey of development will be taken further so that the people of this region can be given real relief. Captain (r) Saqib Zafar said that secretaries of all the departments should formulate a development plan and keep the secretariat informed of their progress on a monthly basis.
 Saqib Zafar has said that the Punjab government has allocated 189M Rs){kind=link}