ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Saturday said the government was striving to remove the deprivations of the people of South Punjab.

Speaking to state-run Pakistan Television (PTV), Kaira said that people of South Punjab were demanding a separate province due to deprivations.

He said President Asif Ali Zardari visited Multan on the invitation of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the ongoing projects in the area, which were started during the tenure Gilani, will be completed soon.

Earlier on Friday, assuaging reservations of the senior vice-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), President Zardari had visited him in his home town.

The Gilani family had been under pressure as Abdul Qadir Gilani complained of threatening notices to him and his father (Yousuf Raza Gilani) by the FIA in connection with the Haj scandal of 2010.

The completion of projects in South Punjab would help reduce the deprivatoins of the people of area, said the information during his interview with PTV.

Kaira reiterated that the PPP-led government was committed to resolve the issues of the people of South Punjab.

Replying a question, the minister said that the federal government will continue its support for the people of the flood affected areas.