LAHORE: Additional Chief Secretary Omer Rasul on Tuesday directed the Punjab Benevolent Fund secretary to review the existing welfare schemes for the serving and retired government employees and their families. He directed the Punjab Benevolent Fund secretary to hire the services of financial and investment experts from private sector in this regard and a comprehensive report be submitted in next meeting of Punjab Benevolent Fund Board after consultation with the government employees. ACS Omer Rasul issued these directives while presiding over the Punjab Benevolent Fund Board meeting at Civil Secretariat on Tuesday. Services Secretary Farhan Aziz Khawaja, Punjab Benevolent Fund Secretary Syeda Malaika, Finance Special Secretary Saif Ullah Dogar, Board of Revenue Secretary Muneer Ahmad Shah, representatives of Health and Irrigation Departments and office bearers of Punjab Civil Secretariat Employees Association were also on the present. The Punjab Benevolent Fund secretary presented annual report of expenditure and income in the meeting of the PBF Board. The board members approved an amount of Rs 2,130 million for the annual expenditure of Punjab Benevolent Fund Board. The board members also accorded approval of Rs 888 million on account of annual scholarship of 34,015 children of government employees, monthly grant amounting to Rs 668 million for 339 widows of decased employees, an amount of Rs 210 million for marriage grant to the children of 3,418 employees and farewell grant for 2,100 retiring employees amounting to Rs 190 million. The meeting was informed that 1,300 employees applied for funeral grant and an amount of 32.1 million were sanctioned for payment. The Punjab Benevolent Fund Board secretary briefed the members that an amount of Rs 5,700 million was received from Accountant General Punjab office on account of subscription, deducted from the salaries of the employees throughout province. “The Punjab Benevolent Fund should make arrangements for speedy provision of welfare grants and financial assistance to the deserving employees and widows and Information Technology may be used for the purpose. Benevolent Fund is the sole fund of the employees and for the employees and there is no justification for delay in payments,” the additional chief secretary stated. The meeting decided in principle in the meeting that more welfare schemes for the benefits of the employees would be initiated and ACS directed to hire the services of financial experts from private sector to invest the amount of Benevolent Fund in profitable schemes and projects. “The proposals of employees, being stakeholders and beneficiaries, should be taken into consideration apart from reports of financial experts while preparing comprehensive recommendation for need-based initiatives and proposed new welfare schemes,” he said. Business registration portal: The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)’s Business Registration Portal is being inaugurated by the Punjab Planning and Development Department in collaboration with Industries department on Wednesday (today) at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries. It will provide online solution to execute all business processes in a user-friendly environment and to improve productivity to conduct business registration activities efficiently and in a timely manner. PITB Chairman Dr Umar Saif and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries president will address the inaugural ceremony. The Business Registration Portal will provide ease of doing business’ plan. It will facilitate to register partnership firms in industries, shops and establishments with Labour and any Business with the Punjab Employee Social Security Institution (PESSI). The Business Registration Portal has back office integration with NADRA and SECP. A helpline is also functional (042-111-425-725) in this regard. The portal will be available for Lahore District, which will be extended subsequently to all other districts of the Punjab. The Online Business Portal registration for business can be done within 48 hours with all respective departments. Online certificates will also be issued by all the three departments and their respective directorates. The traditional methods of doing business pose numerous hurdles and impediments for starting a business. Notifications to online users and walk in clients via email and sms shall also be sent to the applicants regarding the status of their respective application. Published in Daily Times, January 31st 2018.