It is heartening to know that the Punjab government has taken a number of steps to get rid of the extra flesh which was a burden on the economy. It is mentioned in the press that a sum of Rs. 6.1 billion has been saved by the Punjab government during the last three years as a result of various austerity measures which included 25 percent cut in the salary of provincial ministers, abolishment of different posts, efficient use of energy in offices and merger of various departmental wings. History shows that huge government structures often become national burden and therefore cause fall of economy; and this is what we witnessed in case of defunct USSR which fell under its own burden. Unfortunately, during the previous regime, various departments and autonomous wings were gratuitously created to accommodate the political favorites. This huge expansion which didnt produce any positive effect however resulted in the collapse of provincial economy. Nevertheless, it is good to note that the Punjab government decided to curtail expenditures of the provincial government departments. This not only helped to improve efficiency, performance and service-delivery of the government departments but also paved the way for better governance. I think Punjab government should now introduce the public private partnership model in departments where public dealing is involved so that its officials could learn to treat citizens as respectable customers. QUDRATULLAH, Lahore, July 20.