Audit of Punjab Knowledge Park: ‘Received salaries of one billion rupees without doing any work’

The Auditor General of Pakistan has disclosed in one of his reports that the former Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif Even after 10 years, no work has been done under the Knowledge Park Company created in Lahore by

10 years after liquidating the same Knowledge Park company Punjab The government named this project Nawaz Sharif (NS) IT City Maryam Nawaz The government has given the task of redevelopment to the Central Business District (CBD).

According to the report of the Auditor General of Pakistan, “This company has not done any work in ten years while the officers and staff have been paid one billion rupees in salaries.”

According to the report, ‘payments of salaries have been made continuously every month without doing any work.’

According to CBD spokesperson Rizwan Shah, the practical work on the project named NSIT City has now started. “We have sold the first block of 29 plots through companies from various sectors.”

According to Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Vice Chairman Mian Marghub Ahmad, Shahbaz Sharif government started public interest projects by creating several companies including Knowledge Park in 2014. But the NAB and PTI government started retaliatory actions against them, due to which the work on Orange Line, Saaf Pani Company, PKLI and others were also stopped.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz changed the name and design of the Knowledge Park project (CBD) in April after the PML-N came to power.

Expenditure report on Knowledge Park

In the report of the Auditor General of Pakistan received by Independent Urdu, it has been said that ‘to establish an overseas educational institution in Lahore, the Punjab government created a company called Knowledge Park in 2014, under which eight hundred and two acres on Bedian Road. Campuses of foreign educational institutions were to be built, but practically nothing could be done.

“In 2017, only the walling was done, that too is incomplete. But the officers of the company spent a billion rupees on salaries, facilities. Lahore Knowledge Park Company failed to achieve the desired objectives.

According to the report, the company illegally hired a short consultant and incurred expenses of 1 crore 11 lakh rupees.

According to the details released by the Punjab government on the launch of the project in 2014, the Lahore Knowledge Park project will provide employment to more than 40,000 people by the year 2040, and the target of creating 11,200 PhD scholars, while the estimated cost of the project is one billion dollars. was planted.

According to Lahore Knowledge Park Company, the government was supposed to earn 5.9 trillion rupees during 25 years from the project. During this time, the people working in the project were told to get an income of 253 billion rupees while the government received 178 billion rupees in the form of corporate tax.

Speaking to Independent Urdu, Mian Murghub Ahmed said that the project started by one government in our country is stopped by the new government. However, projects started with public money are neither personal nor for any political party.

“Whatever projects Shehbaz Sharif started at that time were closed or postponed by the PTI government.”

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Therefore, by closing the project, the desired benefits are not achieved, but the capital spent from the treasury is also wasted. Due to such policies, many sectors are in dire straits and the exchequer is also burdened.’

The Tehreek-e-Insaf government approved the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of the Knowledge Park project during 2020, but still the work on this project could not be started.

Will the project be complete by changing the name?

After the PML-N came to power, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz changed the name and design of the Knowledge Park project in April. Now the name of this project is Nawaz Sharif IT City which will be built on 853 acres.

Spokesperson CBD Rizwan Shah while talking to Independent Urdu said that ‘IT district, film district, learning district and other blocks will be built in this modern city built at a cost of 100 billion rupees, 90 in IT city. Parks will be built on acres of land.’

According to the spokesperson CBD, so far 29 plots of four to six kanals have been sold at the rate of six to eight crores per plot (CBD).

He says that in this regard, residential buildings will be constructed on 60 acres of land and commercial buildings on 24 acres. Two IT towers will be built in the IT & Tech district. The entire responsibility of this project has been handed over to CBD Punjab while the Knowledge Park Company has been terminated.

Foreign investors are being invited to invest in the Nawaz Sharif IT City, while the Punjab government has declared the project tax-free for 10 years.

According to Rizwan Shah, 29 plots of four to six kanals have been sold at the rate of six to eight crores per plot. The companies who have bought the plots to build the tower have been given a grace period of seven years to pay the full price.