LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Langarwala Pattan-Sahiwal high-level bridge at Jhelum River in Sargodha on Wednesday. He also inspected the bridge and appreciated the high construction standards. The Punjab chief minister was told that an amount of Rs 3 billion has been spent on this 2,100 feet long bridge which will interconnect 2,700,000 population of Sargodha and Khushab districts. The distance between adjoining areas including Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali and Bhakkar has been sufficiently decreased due to the construction of this vital connectivity. It is expected that the new bridge will also boost socio-economic activities and access to hospitals and educational institutions will become easier now. Addressing the large public gathering at Sahiwal Tehsil stadium in Sargodha afterwards, the CM said that this mammoth public presence in the holy month of Ramazan in hot weather shows that the upcoming election belongs to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. He said that former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif promised in 2013 that darkness of load-shedding will be removed and it is the infinite blessing of Almighty Allah that the PML-N government worked very hard to cope with the energy crisis. The federal as well as the Punjab governments made an investment of many hundreds of billion of rupees in the energy projects. Electricity generation projects were also set up under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he added. During the tenure of PML-N government, electricity generation projects of 10,000 megawatts capacity have been set up and electricity is being provided to the whole of the country, he said. He said the duration of load-shedding was very long in 2010; now in spite of shenanigans of the opponents, power projects are generating electricity for the nation. A total of 1,180 megawatts electricity is being provided from Bhikki Power Plant while Haveli Bahadur Shah Gas Power Plant is producing 1,250 megawatt electricity. Similarly, Baloki Plant is providing 1,250 megawatts electricity to the nation. Meanwhile, Sahiwal Coal Power Plant and Port Qasim Plant are generating a total of 2,640 megawatts electricity. The new projects are fulfilling the electricity generation gap resulting from a loss of water in dams and a decrease in hydro power generation. The CM said that the Punjab government had returned the right of the farmers by decreasing fertilisers’ prices and a colossal subsidy has also been provided by the federal and Punjab governments. On the other side, thousands of kilometres long carpeted roads have been constructed in villages with an amount of Rs 85 billion. Farmers are getting cheap electricity due to a decrease in electricity rates for agriculture. He said that stipends worth Rs 17 billion have been distributed among bright and needy students during the last nine years under the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund programme. Along with it, interest-free loans up to Rs 40 billion have been distributed among unemployed youth and as a result, more than two million people have started earning. He said that PML-N government has carried out numerous welfare projects adding that development schemes are a proof of our public service. The CM announced that a technical university will be set up in Sargodha if people elected PML-N in the next elections and another university will also be established in Khushab district. Published in Daily Times, May 24th 2018.