Daily Times

LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Dr Hassan Askari has said that cultivation of the culture of savings in public sector departments is need of the hour as financial transparency is key to prosperity and development.

Addressing a high-level meeting at Civil Secretariat through video link on Friday, Caretaker CM Punjab Dr Hassan Askari said that public funds are a trust of the people and they should be utilised with utmost prudence. The public sector departments should ensure financial discipline and observance of relevant rules and regulations, he said. He made it clear that no restriction has been imposed on release of funds for on-going development projects and added that caretaker government has performed different matters pertaining to budget and development with utmost transparency and remaining within its mandate. He said that ongoing development schemes should be completed as soon as possible, keeping in view the solution of problems of the people. He said that an effort has been made to provide necessary relief to the people while remaining within the limited mandate and constitutional obligations. The meeting took a detailed review of financial matters of different departments.

Caretaker provincial ministers Zia Haider Rizvi, Zafar Mahmood, additional chief secretary and concerned secretaries attended the meeting from the civil secretariat.

Dr Hassan Askari has strongly condemned ransacking and destroying of schools in Chilas and reiterated that such nefarious acts cannot stop our daughters from studying.

Those who are trying to spread fear and panic in the people through such transgressions are atrocious enemies of national development and prosperity, he added. He said criminal offences aimed at depriving the girls to study are tantamount to sheer ignorance and fanaticism.

“It is very essential to light the candle of knowledge everywhere to fearlessly counter extremism as it can only be defeated through an emphatic light of knowledge in the society. We will have to defeat the conspiracies of anti-social elements trying to make the nation a hostage of the darkness of ignorance with our commitment and passion,” concluded the chief minister.

Dr Askari said that police martyrs have written a history of bravery and courage with their blood.

“Today, we all remember the great sacrifices rendered by police martyrs and pay our regards to their heirs on this day,” he said on the eve of Police Martyrs Day, and paid rich tributes to the police martyrs who had sacrificed their precious lives for the protection of life and property of the people and added that their bravery and commitment to duty has helped in maintenance of peace in the country.

“The police martyrs have shed their blood to make this country a citadel of peace,” he said.

The nation pays rich tributes to the immortal sacrifices of its great heroes. The immense sacrifices rendered by the police for the safety of the citizens are immortal. The police force and other law enforcement agencies are fully engaged in eradicating the internal enemies. He said the police martyrs sacrificing their lives for the beloved motherland are heroes of the whole nation. The peace has been restored due to their sacrifices and martyrs’ role in maintaining peace will always be remembered, concluded the CM.

Published in Daily Times, August 4^th 2018.