Governance priorities: ‘Public welfare comes first’

Several lawmakers call on the chief minister.

LAHORE:

The poorest families in the province will be given direct subsidy through the Punjab Khidmat Card programme. This programme aims to reduce financial burden on these families. The cards will bear the names and computerised national identity card numbers of the people they are issued to, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday.

He was presiding over a meeting to discuss progress on the Punjab Khidmat Card programme.

Minister for Education Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Food Minister Bilal Yasin, Adviser Dr Ijaz Nabi, MPA Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, the chief secretary, the secretaries of Food, Planning and Development and Information Departments, the food director and other relevant officials attended the meeting.



Sharif said the programme was another revolutionary welfare scheme launched by the government. It targeted the poorest segment of the society by providing them financial assistance, free education and health facilities through these cards under a phased programme, he said.

The chief minister directed authorities to plan the programme to be framed along the lines of the Educational Endowment Fund. He told them to submit the final recommendations in this regard at the earliest. Various proposals on the Punjab Khidmat Card Programme were also reviewed at the meeting.

Lawmakers call on chief minister

“The government is taking solid steps for the uplift of the less privileged in the province and is planning comprehensive welfare programmes to bring them into the national mainstream,” Sharif told several MPAs who called on him on Friday.

He said the energy crisis had affected economic activities and caused huge losses to agriculture and industry sectors. “The federal government has launched massive projects to lead the country out of the darkness...soon there will be electricity in every house in the country.”

Provincial assembly members Manshaullah Butt, Rana Liaqat Ali, Chaudhry Arshad Javed Warraich of Sialkot, Haji Imran Zafar of Gujrat, Ali Abbas and Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain of Okara met the chief minister.

Sharif inquired about the ongoing development schemes and issues in their districts.

They told him that they were personally monitoring public welfare projects and were abreast of the developments. They agreed that the welfare of the masses must be given top priority.

Sharif said billions of rupees were being spent on projects aimed to facilitate the poor. “Every step we take aims to bring them into the national mainstream,” said the chief minister. “The projects Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz started in its previous tenure have been very successful.”

Honesty and hard work will make the Punjab the model province, he said. Sharif urged lawmakers to increase interaction with the people in the districts and spare no efforts in resolving their problems.

The chief minister said energy sector development was among the government’s top most priority. “It is absolutely essential to promote trade and economic activities, create new jobs and keep our industries up and running.”

The chief minister said the government had offered various incentives to local and foreign investors and companies interested in energy projects in the country. Several agreements with various international companies had been drawn up in this regard.

“Special attention is being paid to this sector for the first time in this country’s history,” the chief minister said, “We are trying to employ low-cost energy sources – coal and solar – to generate electricity.”

He said work on two power plants, 660 MW each, was nearing completion. He said there will be no compromise on the pace these projects completed at.

The Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park Power Project will generate 100 MW when complete.

He said that contract for the project would be awarded soon.

He expressed hope that the power plant will start operating by the end of the year.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.