Buzdar asks ministers to monitor virus control measures

Lawmakers will also oversee wheat procurement drive

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has deployed provincial ministers and special assistants in all 36 districts of Punjab to monitor coronavirus prevention and control measures besides supervising annual wheat procurement drive.

The chief minister has directed the cabinet members to immediately visit the assigned district and hold meetings with health and food departments and local administration and check arrangements of safety measures against coronavirus and wheat procurement drive. He also directed them to submit field reports to his office.

Punjab Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry on the other day highlighted that arrangements for procuring wheat during the ongoing season had been completed.

The government would procure 4.5 million tonnes of wheat at Rs1,400 per maund. He said the food department officials and the deputy commissioners had to make collective efforts to meet the procurement target.



All possible steps would be taken to maintain the Punjab supply chain mechanism and no leniency would be shown to hoarders and illegal profiteers.

He said the government has eliminated the role of middlemen so the farmers would directly get the benefit of their hard work. “Flour mills are not being permitted to procure wheat stocks in bulk until the government achieves half of its procurement target,” he said.

Besides wheat procurement, coronavirus prevention and control campaign is also underway across Punjab as the province has reached the highest number of 1,087 coronavirus patients in Pakistan. So far 11 patients have lost the battle against coronavirus while five have recovered from the disease in Punjab.

The official communiqué issued by the Chief Minister’s Office highlighted that Minister for Public Prosecution Chaudhry Zaheeruddin has been deployed in Faisalabad, Minister for Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology and Tourism Muhammad Taimoor Khan in Jhang and Minister for Cooperatives Mehar Muhammad Aslam in Chiniot. The CM deployed Minister for Women Development Ashifa Riaz in Toba Tek Singh, Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid in Lahore, Minister for Population Welfare Muhammad Hashim Dogar in Kasur, Minister for Wildlife and Fisheries Malik Asad Ali in Nankana Sahib and Minister for Disaster Management Mian Khalid Mehmood in Sheikhupura.

Meanwhile, Minister for Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Raja Rashid Hafeez was deployed in Rawalpindi, Minister for Mines and Minerals Hafiz Ammar Yasir in Chakwal, Adviser to CM on PHA and Tourism Asif Mehmood in Jhelum, Minister for Revenue Malik Muhammad Anwar in Attock and Minister for Labour and HR Ansar Majeed Khan Niazi in Sargodha.

The chief minister deployed Minister for Forestry Muhammad Sibtain Khan in Mianwali, Minister for Excise and Taxation Mumtaz Ahmed in Khushab, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Forestry Ameer Muhammad Khan in Bhakkar, Minister for Housing Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed in Gujranwala and Minister for Environment Muhammad Rizwan in Gujrat.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Youth Affairs and Sports Umer Farooq was deployed in Hafizabad, Minister for Chief Minister’s Inspection Team Muhammad Ajmal in Mandi Bahauddin, Minister for Auqaf Pir Syed Saeedul Hassan Shah in Narowal, Minister for Special Education Muhammad Akhlaq in Sialkot, Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial in Sahiwal, Minister for Consolidation of Holdings Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari in Okara and Adviser to Chief Minister on Livestock and Dairy Development Faisal Hayat in Pakpattan.

Minister for Food Samiullah Chaudharv has been deployed in Bahawalpur, Minister for Zakat and Ushr Shoukat Ali Laleka in Bahawalnagar, Minister for Irrigation Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari in Rahim Yar Khan, Minister for Energy Muhammad Akhtar in Multan, Minister for Management Professional Development Department Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi in Khanewal and Minister for Prisons Zawar Hussain Waraich in Lodhran

Buzdar deployed Minister for Transport Muhammad Jahanzaib Khan Khichi in Vehari, Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Muhammad Hanif in Dera Ghazi Khan, Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development Sardar Hasnain Bahadar Dreshak in Rajanpur, Advisor to Chief Minister on Agriculture Abdul Haye Dasti in Muzaffargarh and Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Auqaf and Religious Affairs Syed Rafaqat Ali Gillani in Layyah.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government has disbursed financial assistance of Rs1.5 billion under the Chief Minister Insaf Imdad Programme (CMIIP) among 170,000 poor families across Punjab. The chief minister has highlighted that the government has disbursed financial aid among needy following quick verification of their credentials.

The financial assistance programme is one of its kind in the country on many counts like speed, quality and transparency, as the programme is aimed to help poor in a difficult time.

Meanwhile, with the active collaboration of philanthropists and business community, the Punjab government has dispatched the first batch of 100 trucks carrying food and relief goods to district of the province for free distribution among poor.

The chief minister dispatched relief goods trucks in his presence from Punjab University Ground on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, Buzdar underlined that the provincial government would distribute food and relief goods among the unemployed at their doorstep during the lockdown period.



“The government will dispatch more relief goods with the generous cooperation of business and trade community and philanthropists. The government will not leave daily wagers and poor alone in this trying time as a large number of people have gone jobless owing to partial lockdown,” he remarked.

The chief minister thanked the business community and philanthropists for their generous support and cooperation.

It was highlighted on the occasion that 25 trucks each of relief goods have been dispatched for Lahore and Rawalpindi, 20 for Gujranwala, five each for Jhelum, Islamabad and Sheikhupura, eight for Sargodha and two for Jhang.

The chief minister pointed out that the government has constituted special committees, comprising of parliamentarians and local leaders, under the deputy commissioners which would distribute relief goods among the poor whose lists, with pictures, have been prepared and authenticated by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). The goods would be distributed from the government warehouse through a transparent system.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2020.