LAHORE, Aug 17 (Alliance News): Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has strongly criticised the Sindh government over allegations of corruption and governance failures, saying Punjab would respond firmly whenever its performance was questioned without evidence.
In a statement on Monday, Bukhari said Punjab had no hostility towards Sindh, but warned that allegations against the province should be supported by evidence and could otherwise be challenged through legal channels.
She said raising questions about Punjab’s performance through press conferences without providing evidence should not be portrayed as political victimisation.
“Those whose province has Rs8 billion corruption on a single road will question us?” she asked, referring to allegations of financial irregularities in Sindh.
Bukhari further alleged that governance problems existed in several sectors in Sindh, questioning why criticism was being directed towards Punjab when, according to her, serious issues remained unresolved there.
She also criticised what she described as the use of different standards when assessing the performance of provincial governments.
The Punjab information minister claimed that corruption scandals were reported in Sindh, while Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had adopted a policy of bringing alleged irregularities to the public’s attention rather than protecting those responsible.
Bukhari said the Punjab government would continue taking action whenever irregularities were identified and would not hesitate to make such matters public.
Turning to the issue of clean drinking water, she said the Punjab government was continuing efforts to ensure access to safe drinking water for citizens across the province.
She said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had chaired her fifth consecutive meeting on the issue and that thousands of litres of free bottled water were being delivered door-to-door to people living in remote areas of Punjab.
Bukhari criticised those who, she said, were questioning Punjab’s water initiatives despite being unable to provide adequate clean drinking water to children in Thar.
She also claimed that the Punjab government had taken steps to prevent citizens from becoming dependent on private tanker operators for drinking water.
The minister’s remarks came amid an increasingly heated political exchange between the governments of Punjab and Sindh, with representatives from both provinces frequently criticising each other’s governance, development priorities and public service delivery.
Bukhari maintained that Punjab’s performance should be judged on the basis of concrete results rather than political statements, while stressing that the provincial government was prepared to answer legitimate questions about its policies and administration.
The latest exchange highlights the broader political rivalry between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led Punjab government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government, particularly over issues of governance, corruption, development and public services.
