Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said on Saturday that not unilateral but a consensus decision will be taken on South Punjab.

Talking to the media after the meeting of the Punjab cabinet for the first time in the history of Pakistan, CM Buzdar said, “We have come here to resolve problems of the people of Bahawalpur. We will resolve the problems of Bahawalpur so that the people do not need to travel to Lahore for the resolution of their problems,” he said adding that we want to resolve problems of all cities including Bahawalpur and we will overcome shortage wherever it is found.

Cholistan University will be set up this year and the decision of the appointment of the vice chancellor will be taken by the search committee. He said the South Punjab Secretariat will be functional from the next financial year. South Punjab will be given mega projects. The work on the burns unit will also start. The committees on the 100-day plan are still active and targets will be achieved. The CM said he went straight to Model Bazaar from the Bahawalpur Airport and talked to the victims, in a bid to resolve their plight.

He said he visited the Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital and reviewed medical arrangements at its emergency. The matter of the Bahawalpur Cricket Stadium will also be reviewed. He said there is no difference with anybody and everybody is on the same page. Action is being taken against influential mafias during anti-encroachment drives and no permission has been given to take action against the poor. Action will be taken against the concerned assistant commissioner on the violation of this policy.

Spokesman to CM Dr Shahbaz Gill, Punjab Minister for Information & Culture Fayyazul Hassan Chohan and others were also present.

The provincial cabinet approved the policy of the impartial allotment of vehicles to provincial ministers and officers.

The annual report for 2017 of the Punjab Power Development Board was also approved. After the approval of the provincial cabinet, this report will be presented in the Provincial Assembly. The meeting also gave its consent to the draft of the Punjab Water Policy. The draft of the Water Act will be prepared in the light of this policy and the Water Council will be constituted. The proposal of the construction of the Dadhocha Dam under the private-public partnership was also approved. The agenda of the control of the lower portion of the Chashma Right Bank Canal and the provision of the complete share of water to Punjab from this canal was also approved. The report of the Auditor General of Pakistan on the Disaster Management Organisation Punjab’s accounts for the year 2017-2018 was also approved. The audit report of the Auditor General Pakistan for district health and education authorities of Punjab for the year 2017-2018 was also approved. The formulation of the Labour Policy of Punjab was also approved. The meeting also gave its consent to the appointment of the vice chancellor of the Cholistan University of the Veterinary and Animal Sciences and the formation of the search committee. The final recommendations regarding the South Punjab Forest Company will be drafted by the advisory council, which will present its report to the chief minister. The increase in the allowance of doctors on the basis of performance was also approved. The allowance will be increased in the upcoming financial year. The implementation of the decision on the equal fee of tests in the hospitals was also approved. The process of the purchase of the ventilators, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and ICU monitors was also approved. The decision has been taken to regularise the assistant professors who have been recruited on the three-year contract. The recruitment to the 325 vacancies of the Social Welfare Department Punjab was also approved. The meeting gave its consent to the recruitment of the special persons on the basis of the three per cent quota. The lapse fund of the 2017-18 financial year of the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company was also approved. The provision of funds for the current financial year 2018-19 for the Balochistan Education Programme was also approved. The meeting also approved the subsidy for the export of sugar. The amendment in the Punjab Rules of Business 2011 was also approved to give the control of the Punjab Tianjin Engineering University to the Health Department. The measures for the establishment of the Chakar Khan Rind University, Dera Ghazi Khan were also approved.

The cabinet meeting also offered fateha for the departed mothers of provincial ministers Ajman Cheema and Jahanzeb Khan, and Member of Provincial Assembly Dr Afzal. Buzdar, speaking on the occasion, said another promise has been fulfilled by holding the meeting of the Punjab Cabinet in Bahawalpur.

Published in Daily Times, December 30^th 2018.