The officers of a province, buried under a mountain of debt, carved out a billion-rupee-plus plan for renovation of their mess adding a raft of modern-day luxuries to their daily routine, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The mess located at Lahore’s GOR-1 is going to add treats like jacuzzi, sauna, ladies gym, yoga hall, café room, expanded tennis court, etc, for the babus of Punjab.
The work on the project has been started in April 2023 when its cost was just Rs40 million, but revision after revision multiplied the project cost to Rs1.11 billion with some lavish spending on the extravagant facilities for the ‘hard-working’ government officers.
As per the latest development, the Works Department has now sought Rs480 million after further amendments were made to the renovation project.
Sources said for the officers’ rooms lights and curtains will be replaced, modern ceiling with fancy lights will be added.
Other tasks include construction and repair of guest rooms, renovation of old gymnasium, construction of ladies’ gym and yoga hall, construction of sauna room and jacuzzi, squash court flooring, jogging track, café room and the list goes on.
It may be mentioned here that at the end of June 2024, debt stock of the Punjab government may stand at Rs1,685 billion, out of which Rs1,683 billion is from external lenders, while Rs1.7 billion from domestic sources. Collectively, these loans represent 2.9% of Punjab’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).