LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan Muslim League-N will not withdraw from the mission of public service and prosperity of the country. “Zardari-Niazi hook up was the outcome of fear of development process in Punjab. One has made Karachi, which was once the city of lights, a filth depot while the other has ruined the beauty of historic city of Peshawar,” he said while talking to PML-N leader here on Wednesday. The chief minister said that people were longing for development and prosperity instead of destruction and devastation. “Niazi Sahib has disappointed the youth by colluding with the biggest malady of the country,” he said, adding the hapless people of KP and Sindh were facing tremendous problems and had become a picture of neglect. “The elements doing the politics of falsehood and mendacity can never be the leader of the nation,” he maintained. The chief minister said that energy crisis and terrorism had been eliminated due to the sincere efforts of the PML-N government. Meanwhile, the people of Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi-Islamabad are enjoying latest and comfortable transport facilities. “If Allah Almighty grants an opportunity, then world-class transport will be introduced in other small and big cities on the pattern of metro.” Referring to the development process in southern Punjab, he said that more development funds had been provided to southern Punjab as compared to its population and added that record development schemes in southern Punjab had been started. He disclosed that more innovative schemes would be introduced to bridge the economic divide between the haves and have-nots. He said that government would further promote development schemes relating to health and education sectors. Separately, the chief minister Wednesday said that protection of consumers’ rights was the basic responsibility of the government, adding that this agenda had been included in the priorities of the Punjab government. In his message on World Consumer Rights Day, the chief minister said that Punjab government was taking all possible steps to protect the rights of the consumers and observed that there was a need that the consumers should know their rights and responsibilities. He said the purpose of celebrating the day was to raise awareness about consumers’ rights. “Under the constitution, it is the responsibility of the government to safeguard the rights of the consumers,” he said, adding that Consumer Protection Act had been enforced across the province. Under this act, he said that consumer courts had been set up in different districts to facilitate hundreds of thousands of citizens. “In case of any complaint against a trader or a manufacturer, an application can be submitted to the Consumer Protection Council without any court fee or a lawyer,” concluded the chief minister. Published in Daily Times, March 15th 2018.