LAHORE: Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the ‘Self Employment Scheme’ of the Punjab government was a revolutionary programme that was proving helpful in bridging the gap between rich and the poor. He was addressing a ceremony held at Iqbal Park to distribute cheques among deserving families under the Self Employment Scheme. “Under this scheme, interest-free loans worth Rs 40 billion have been distributed in 1.8 million families in six years. A total of 225 million people have benefited from the loans. The return ratio of loans is 99.9 percent. Today more than 600 million rupees will be distributed in 25,000 families,” he said. “A total of 1.8 million families in the Punjab have been given interest-free loans under the scheme due to which they are able to earn a respectful leaving. On the one hand, there are great Pakistanis who have repaid the loans. On the other hand, there are very rich persons who have got written off loans worth billions of rupees through approaches and bribes despite having luxury cars, factories and lucrative posts. I salute these great Pakistanis who have returned the loans after using them with honesty and sincerity,” he said. “In this ceremony, there are great mothers, sons and elderly persons. I salute them on the behalf of the Punjab government for deciding to lead a respectful life through honesty, and hard work despite seeking alms from others. Lofty minarets of the Badshahi Masjid are witnesses to this fact. In this ceremony being held in this mosque, we all pray that Allah Almighty may give strength to governments, rulers, politicians, judges and the rich that they take the step ahead and hold the hands of the poor people. “The idea of this great programme came to my mind when I met Dr Amjad Saqib during my exile and at that time Musharraf was ruling the country. I had prayed that we will work on this unique and innovative idea if we came to power. I am satisfied and happy that Allah Almighty gave me strength and enabled me to give practical shape to this programme,” he said. The chief minister said under the programme, these great Pakistanis could get interest free loans up to Rs 50,000. “This programme is running across the Punjab simultaneously. There is a huge class difference between the rich and the poor. If this difference continues, everything will be uprooted. With the elimination of unemployment and poverty, the economy should move ahead and agriculture and industry would be promoted. From Karachi to Peshawar, influential and rich people get their loans written off on political basis. “ This was not the ideology of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal. They had not dreamt of a Pakistan in which the rich could deprive the poor of their hard-earned income. Through this programme, the government has taken the revolutionary steps to bridge the gap between rich and the poor. The Punjab Educational Endowment Fund is also such a historical measure through which resource-less students are getting higher education and by the next two months the number of beneficiaries from this fund will increase to three and a half lakh. “Under this program, thousands of girls and boys from poor families have completed their education and are now serving the nation after becoming engineers, doctors, teachers and economies. Talented students from Balochistan, Azad Kashmir, KP and Sindh have also been included in this programme. This is that revolutionary programme, which is transforming Pakistan into a welfare state dreamt by Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal,” he said. “If Allah Almighty gives us another chance to serve the country, the programme will be started in all federating units of Pakistan so that Pakistanis get respectable employments and become self-reliant. We have given Azad Kashmir an amount of Rs 1.5 billion from our funds this year so that welfare projects move forward there. The rich plundered the national kitty mercilessly and made the country bankrupt and this is not a fairy-tale. For elimination of poverty and unemployment, stability is needed. Pakistan cannot afford unity and differences because these are poisons. “If disunity is fanned, then everything will turn to ashes. Pakistanis will decide in the 2018 elections whether the culture of allegations, lies and abuse should continue or not. PML-N eliminated loadshedding and decreased unemployment,” he said. Published in Daily Times, February 11th 2018.