Former rulers adopted lifestyle of ?Mughal kings? on tax payers' money: Firdous

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Tuesday said the former ruling families had adopted the lifestyle of ‘Mughal kings’ and plundered national wealth on account of setting up camp offices, security arrangements and entertainment.Flanked by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed, she was briefing the media here about the decisions taken in the Federal Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.Giving details of the public money wasted by the former rulers, Murad Saeed said ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had spent Rs 245 million on his camp offices.Similarly, he said, Asif Ali Zardari had wasted over Rs 3,164 million from the tax payers' money on his security arrangements and camp offices during the period of 2013-2018 when he was not even president of the country.He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had wasted $ 460,000 on his visit to the United States in 2015 and spent 327,000 sterling pounds from the public exchequer on his treatment in the United Kingdom.Murad Saeed said Shehbaz Sharif had spent Rs 8,726 million on his security as chief minister.He also wasted Rs 1,300 million by using the special plane of prime minster 526 times, despite having his own helicopter.Former president Mamnoon Hussain, he said, spent Rs 303 million on security of his camp office in Karachi.On the contrary, the minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan would save public money by staying in the Pakistan embassy during his forthcoming visit to the United States.Likewise, he said the security expenditure of Punjab chief minister had also been reduced by 86 per cent and travel expenses by 60 per cent after Usman Buzdar took over charge of the office last year.