Compared to previous expenditures made by the previous governments at the PM house, Prime Minister Imran Khan has saved Rs 1.08 billion under austerity drive,” the SAPM said in his message on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Criticizing the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), he said that had they been in power, the money would have been spent on them.
Gill further explained that the amount that has been saved by the PM by adopting the austerity drive and minimizing his expenditures would now be used to fund the government’s Ehsaas Program.
In his first address to the nation as PM, Khan had pledged a new austerity drive as the country was facing a severe economic crisis. He rightfully pointed out the pointed out the unnecessary expenses on foreign tours by the previous leaders. Nawaz Sharif went on 64 international tours during his third term as the Prime Minister over which a total of Rs. 650 million was spent while the Speaker of the National Assembly spent Rs. 80 million out of a total budget of Rs. 180 million allocated for the National Assembly, on foreign visits. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also used to be accompanied by over 631 staff members on his foreign tours further which speaks volumes about the exorbitant expenditure.
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During the PPP’s tenure, former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani made 48 official visits which cost the state kitty around Rs572 million, while his successor Raja Pervaiz Ashraf conducted nine official visits costing Rs107 million to the national exchequer.
Minister for Communication Murad Saeed on Sunday tweeted that Prime Minister Khan has no camp office and saved Rs1.08 billion.
PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had spent Rs 2.6 billion and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had spent Rs 4.3 billion during their tenures on their camp offices, he further highlighted. 345 police vehicles and 656 personnel were deployed by Zardari on his camp offices, while 2,717 police personnel were deployed on security duty on Sharif’s camp offices, he added.
It is pretty evident that Imran Khan has acted on his promises for adopting austerity measures by making a record cut in PM House’s expenses by 68 percent.
The expenses of staff and other expenditures of the PM House have gone down by Rs500 million to Rs310 million during the last two years. The numbers of employees at the PM House have also come down to only 180 from 522, it was revealed.