Over 120 social services will be integrated under the Punjab Ehsaas Programme Act 2022 whose draft was approved by the provincial Cabinet Committee on Legislative Affairs on Wednesday.
The approval was granted in a meeting of the cabinet committee chaired by Punjab Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basharat Raja.
The Chief Minister’s Special Assistant on Ehsaas Programme Senator Sania Nishtar briefed the meeting on the draft of the proposed law.
She said the programme was being integrated in Punjab on the instructions of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.
“Under the proposed law, all social services of Punjab will be monitored by a Central Ehsaas Board,” she said. “The dynamics of any public social service work will not be changed under the new law. However, access to people living below the poverty line will be more streamlined,” explained the special assistant.
Committee Chairman Basharat Raja said that after the approval of the cabinet, the draft would be presented in the Punjab Assembly.
The committee also deliberated on regulating increase in the production capacity of sugar mills.
The parliamentary affairs minister said the matter should be forwarded to the Punjab cabinet for final approval. An amendment to the existing law in this regard is also being reviewed. Provincial Minister for Communications and Works Ali Afzal Sahi, MNA Sadaqat Ali Abbasi and officials concerned attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, Punjab Local Government Minister Mian Mahmoodul Rashid congratulated the people of the province on the approval of the Local Government Bill 2021 by the provincial assembly.
He said the local government law imposed by the previous government had died. The local bodies elections would be held in accordance with the new law and the real power would be transferred to the genuine public representatives at the grassroot level under the vision of former prime minister Imran Khan.
He said that the beauty of the new law was that people would have their own representation in every village and neighborhood.
Under the new law, the mayor and the head of the district council will be elected directly by the people. He said many institutions, including the development agencies, WASA and PHA, would be under the mayor.
Dengue situation
Presiding over a meeting, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi expressed concern over the increase in the number of dengue patients in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Gujranwala and asked the authorities why preventive measures had not been taken at the time when abnormal rains had been predicted. The situation should be realised in time and an emergency strategy should be formulated, he said. While approving the establishment of a centre for the timely prevention of epidemic diseases, the CM said Rescue 1122, health and line departments should give a final shape to legislation for the purpose.
Punjab government will get the approval of the act from the provincial assembly for the establishment of the centre for disease control, he added and ordered the formation of a committee for the task.
The initiative will help in the prevention of dengue, coronavirus, cholera, typhoid and other epidemic diseases, he noted.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2022.
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