Final phase: Local bodies to be operational ‘within two months’

P&D secretary says Punjab has introduced modern urban development system

LAHORE: The new local government system will become operational in two months as the provincial government is committed to improving  service delivery at peoples’ doorsteps, said Punjab Planning and Development Department Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo.

He was addressing a 45-member delegation of the Provincial Youth Assembly of Punjab on Saturday. The event was jointly organised by the Planning and Development Department and Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT).

Punjab, being the first province leading in Sustainable Development Goals, had introduced modern urban development system, he said.

Giving a detailed presentation on development projects, Sahoo pointed out that Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project that was being built with soft loan from China would be operational by 2018.

The government was about to initiate work on Lahore Knowledge Park wherein reputed educational institutes would open their campuses, he added.

Talking about education sector initiatives, Sahoo said that the government had enrolled around 11 million children in 52,000 public schools in the province.

It allocated Rs60 billion for Khadim-e-Punjab School Programme, while over 200,000 students had been provided support through Punjab Education Endowment Fund for higher education and 145,000 teachers had been inducted in public schools.

In order to provide a clean drinking water to the citizens of Punjab the government had allocated Rs300 billion for the Punjab Saaf Pani project, he said.

He added that under the Kisan Package of Rs100 billion, the government was providing all agriculture facilities to small farmers and interest free loan to small farmers were being ensured transparently.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2016.