LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has criticised the Punjab government for allowing purchase of four expensive bulletproof cars at a time when the public is deprived of basic necessities like flour, medicine, and electricity amid unemployment.

“This is not just extravagance but a blatant display of the looting mentality and anti-people governance of heartless rulers,” says a statement by the PTI Punjab.

It alleged the Punjab government is going to spend Rs730m on bulletproof cars at a time when 35m citizens of the province were forced to live below the poverty line. It said unemployment had crossed the 7.5pc mark.

The PTI said 15pc tax on medicines had made healthcare inaccessible for the poor and 165 mothers were dying per 100,000 births. It also said that the farmers were devastated due to a 25pc increase in fertilizer prices, doubled water bills and falling wheat prices.

“The money being spent on luxury vehicles could have been diverted to public welfare, essential services and the development of the province. There are many regions in Punjab where people don’t have access to food or clean drinking water yet greed and insatiable appetite of the elite knows no bounds,” says PTI.

Previously, the Punjab government had also approved the purchase of luxury vehicles worth Rs7.5bn but the Finance Department was consistently found hiding facts and information.

On July 7, 2025, Shayan Bashir, PTI Punjab Media Cell head, submitted a request to the finance department seeking details on the purchase, usage, and justification of these luxury vehicles.

In response, the PTI says, the finance department absolved itself of all responsibility, shifting the burden entirely onto other departments.

“This response suggests either that the finance department is so incompetent that it released funds without any review or verification, or that this is part of a serious corruption scandal,” the PTI Punjab alleges.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2025