ISLAMABAD         -        The federal government on Tuesday informed the Senate that Prime Minister’s Office spent over Rs one billion during three years under the premiership of Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan. Presenting the details of the expenses of the Prime Minister’s Office from 2019 to 2021 in the House during the question hour session, Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan said that a budget of Rs1.17 billion was allocated for the Prime Minister’s Office during the three years when PTI was in power. He further said that the PM Office spent more than Rs one billion for the same period of time. According to the official data, the PM Office spent Rs 315.920 million in the year 2019-20, which slightly declined to Rs 300.452 million in 2020-21. The office utilized a maximum amount of Rs 384.931million during 2021-22. On this, PPP Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi, the mover of the question, chided PTI by saying that former prime minister Imran Khan talked about coming to office by a bicycle and spoke about simplicity. Instead, the ex-premier used to travel from his Bani Gala residence to his office by a helicopter, he added. Separately, the government informed the house that the issue of gas shortage and the ban on new connections will stay for years. Minister of State for Petroleum Senator Musadik Malik told the house during question hour that two new policies aimed at overcoming the problem of gas shortage were almost ready and would be unveiled in the next two weeks. He said one was about reopening of the wellheads that had been shuttered while the other policy related to exploration of gas. He went on to say that the result of the policies would start bearing fruit in three to four years due to the time consuming exploration process. He noted that new gas connections could not be allowed under the prevailing circumstances.