Cabinet meeting gives nod to projects worth Rs27b

District-level committees will be constituted to implement programme

LAHORE: Provincial cabinet has approved the first phase of implementation on Punjab Municipal Services Programme worth around Rs27 billion. The strategy of releasing funds for 194 urban and 3,316 rural local government institutions has also been approved.

The 17th meeting of the provincial cabinet was held on Wednesday, which was presided over by Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar. The meeting decided that district-level committees would be constituted to implement this programme and the first phase would be completed by June 2020.

The chief minister said implementation on the decision of spending the toll tax money on the repair and maintenance of roads of the same area would be ensured and added that this would make available the required funds. He directed to estimate the damages caused in some rural areas due to recent floods and rivers erosion.

The committee also approved to change the name of cabinet sub-committee for the flood to cabinet sub-committee for disaster management. Provincial Minister for Disaster Management Mian Khalid Mehmood would be its convener.

The meeting also decided to shut down Lahore Water and Sanitation Company for being a non-functional public sector company.

The chief minister sought a report determining the future of other public sector companies and directed Dr Salman Shah to submit a final report at the earliest as the decision would be made after the submission of this report.

The meeting also gave conditional approval to fix and release grant-in-aid for Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex Lahore for 2019-20.

Approval of reports of Auditor General of Pakistan with regard to public sector enterprises of Punjab government for 2018-19 and public sector companies of Punjab government Volume 3 of the financial year 2017-18 was also given.

Approval of the appointment of the Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Bahawalpur Vice Chancellor was given while the same committee would also submit recommendations for the appointment of VC of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore.

Permission was granted for an agreement under the unilateral trust fund programme for the treatment of animal diseases and foot-and-mouth control programme in different areas of the province.

The meeting also approved Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Act, 2019.

After this approval, the succession certificates would be issued by NADRA where special succession facilitation unit will be established.

The meeting approved to introduce law reforms at the provincial level besides approving the reconstitution of the board of directors of Punjab Social Protection Authority.

Special assistant to Prime Minister Dr Sania Nishtar gave a briefing about Ehsas programme. The meeting decided to enhance collaboration between Punjab and federal governments for Ehsas programme. The chief minister termed it a flagship initiative of the PTI government to elevate the downtrodden segments of the society adding that Punjab government will extend full support.

The cabinet paid rich tributes to Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on his death anniversary and said that great leaders like him are born in centuries. Quaid-i-Azam never cared for his health in the struggle for Pakistan. It is lamentable that Muslims and other minorities are badly treated in India even today. Buzdar said the persistent fanaticism of Hindus has proved the truthfulness of Quaid-i-Azam about achieving a separate homeland for Muslims.

The meeting strongly condemned the lockdown and eight weeks long continuous curfew in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and expressed complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people. The chief minister said that Modi government has turned Occupied Kashmir into world’s biggest jail adding that sham Indian democracy has been badly exposed.

The people of Pakistan are firmly standing with their Kashmiri brethren. Modi has become a Yazid of today and barbarity is on its extreme in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Days of oppression are limited; he said and added that the world will have to stop the oppressor to avoid the greatest human tragedy in the Occupied Kashmir.

The meeting also appreciated the performance of the cabinet committee on law and order, CS, IG Police and line departments for making fool-proof arrangements during Ashura.

The meeting endorsed the decisions of 16th cabinet meeting along with approving the decisions of 12th and 13th meeting of cabinet standing committee for finance and development.

Provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, chief secretary, IG Police and others attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2019.