Our Staff reporter KHAN GARH - PPP outspoken MNA Jamshed Dasti has criticised Bahawalpur National Awami Party Chief Nawab Salahuddin, saying that the so-called political struggle of Nawab of Bahawalpur was not for the welfare of people of the south Punjab rather for his (Nawab) personal interests. The BNAP chief wants to achieve his political and personal mileage in the name of Bahawalpur provincial status restoration but the people of the region are aware and will not let him divide them on any pretext. During an exclusive chat with The Nation here, MNA Dasti said that the Saraiki province was the need of the hour and a long-cherished demand of people of the underdeveloped and deprived area. The PPP leader argued that Saraiki region was home to people from all ethnicities and languages and would remain so even after the creation of Saraiki province. Locals, Muhajars, Saraiki, Punjabi and all other people from any other caste and ethnicity are the part and parcel of the Saraiki region, he claimed. He launched a diatribe against the Punjab government, alleging the Punjab government of diverting and consuming all the funds meant for the development of south Punjab for the uplift of upper Punjab. He pointed out that this situation and treatment had increased poverty in the region. The sense of deprivation among people of south Punjab has deepened and they feel marginalised due to the wrong and biased policies of the Punjab government. The canals in southern Punjab run dry but the canals in upper Punjab flows the whole the year. Similarly, the entire region is deprived of modern hospitals and education institutions. There is shortage of water for agriculture in south Punjab while wastage of water has become a routine in the upper Punjab, he drew a comparison. MNA Dasti claimed that the Prime Minister allocated funds for the development of southern Punjab but the provincial government had been creating hurdles in the release of these funds. On the occasion, the PPP leader revealed that the PPP government had released Rs4 billion for the development of southern Punjab. MNA Dasti claimed that his party would provide electricity to each and every house in NA-178 in the current tenure. He said that two buses had been provided for free service of people of NA-178 and more free buses would be provided to serve poor people of the area.