CM Punjab approves development projects for South Punjab

Meeting also gives its consent to draft of Punjab Water Policy

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Saturday chaired the first cabinet meeting in the history of Pakistan at the divisional headquarters Bahawalpur. The meeting, which continued for three hours with a 22-point agenda, approved several mega projects for South Punjab.

During the meeting, the provincial cabinet approved the policy of the impartial allotment of vehicles to provincial ministers and officers. The annual report for the year of 2017 of the Punjab Power Development Board was also approved. After the approval of the provincial cabinet, this report will be presented in the provincial assembly.

The meeting also gave its consent to the draft of the Punjab Water Policy. The draft of the Water Act will be prepared in light of this policy and the Water Council will be constituted. The proposal of the construction of the Dadhocha Dam under the private-public partnership was also approved.

The agenda of the control of the lower portion of Chashma Right Bank Canal and the provision of the complete share of water to Punjab from this canal was also approved. The report of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) on the Disaster Management Organisation Punjab’s accounts for the year 2017-18 was also approved. The audit report of the AGP for district health and education authorities of Punjab for the year 2017-2018 was also okayed. The formulation of the Labour Policy of Punjab was approved too.

The meeting also gave its consent to the appointment of the vice chancellor of the Cholistan University of the Veterinary and Animal Sciences and the formation of the search committee. The final recommendations regarding the South Punjab Forest Company will be drafted by the advisory council, which will present its report to the chief minister.

The increase in the allowance of doctors on the basis of performance was also given the go-ahead. The allowance will be increased in the upcoming financial year. The implementation of the decision on the equal fee of tests in the hospitals was also approved. The process of the purchase of the ventilators, ICU beds and ICU monitors was also okayed. The decision has been taken to regularise the assistant professors who have been recruited on a three-year contract. The recruitment to the 325 vacancies of the Social Welfare Department Punjab was also approved by the meeting. The meeting gave its nod to the recruitment of the special persons on the basis of 3% quota.

The lapsed fund of the 2017-18 financial year of the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company was also approved. The provision of funds for the current financial year 2018-19 for the Balochistan Education Programme was approved. The meeting also approved the subsidy for the export of sugar. The amendment to the Punjab Rules of Business 2011 was green-lighted to give the control of the Punjab Tianjin Engineering University to the Health Department. The measures for the establishment of the Chakar Khan Rind University, Dera Ghazi Khan were approved.

Speaking on the occasion, CM Sardar Usman Buzdar, said another promise has been fulfilled by holding the meeting of the Punjab Cabinet in Bahawalpur. “We will end the sense of deprivation among the people of South Punjab. The whole Punjab is my home and I will go to every part of it,” he remarked.

He said the less-developed areas would be brought on a par with the developed areas. The cabinet meetings will be held in other divisions as well. The public service done by us in the short time is the result of the teamwork. “We will move forward in the future with the same zeal and serve the people,” Buzdar said. Provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, chief secretary, secretaries of departments and senior officials were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2018.