Due to the personal efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, a separate 132-KV grid station will be set up for the tribal areas of DG Khan with an amount of Rs 1 billion. Giving details, Usman Buzdar said that grid station will be set up in Barthi Khas along with 49-km-long transmission line to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply. Meanwhile, the power division has directed to prepare the PC-1 for this purpose. Election rolls: Buzdar presided over a meeting at his office here on Thursday to review preparations regarding village panchayat & neighbourhood councils and local governments elections. Steps regarding implementation on Punjab Municipal Services Programme were also reviewed. The chief minister said that delimitations of local areas have been completed by the Punjab government and preparations of election rolls under Punjab Local Government Act, 2019 is in progress, as well. He directed to complete election rolls by first week of December and added that village panchayat & neighbourhood councils’ elections will be held in the first phase and local governments’ elections will be held in the second phase. A total of 455 local governments will be established in the province, he added. He said that Punjab government has given approval to amendments in Punjab Local Government Act, 2019 regarding grant of voting right to minorities on general seats along with reserve seats. New local bodies system is in accordance with people’s aspirations while past local bodies institutions failed in solving people’s problems. Local bodies’ representatives will be empowered and the new system will end existing status-quo to empower the people, he said. He maintained that new local bodies system will play an important role in solving problems at the doorsteps of the people. He added that local bodies’ institutions will be made financially autonomous and the people living in rural areas will also be empowered. Punjab Municipal Services Programme will be helpful in completing repair and maintenance of roads and other public-oriented projects at the grassroots, he added. The chief minister also directed to settle the matters pertaining to this programme at the earliest. Secretary Local Government briefed about preparations regarding village panchayat & neighbourhood councils’ elections and local governments’ elections. Provincial ministers Raja Basharat, Hashim Jawan Bakhat, Chief Secretary, Chairman P&D, SMBR and others attended the meeting. Noorul Haq Qadri: Federal Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri called on Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office and discussed different matters including promotion of religious harmony. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that Pakistan needs more unity than ever before adding that national development process will have to be completed jointly because the country belongs to all of us. He added that national interest dominates personal interest and every segment of the society should play its role in national development. The PTI government has laid the foundation of a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan and we are moving towards materializing the dream of Quaid-e-Azam about a developed Pakistan. He said that role of religious scholars is very important for promoting the norms of tolerance, harmony and brotherhood in the society adding that Kartarpur Corridor project is a conspicuous proof of inter-religious harmony. Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a message of brotherhood and peace to the whole world through the Kartarpur Corridor project, he added. Usman Buzdar said that all the religious minorities in Punjab province enjoy equal rights and provincial government is also introducing different projects of minorities’ welfare and development. Similarly, the maintenance of shrines will also be improved in the province. The religion of Islam guarantees equal rights to the minorities and Prime Minister Imran Khan has given it a practical shape, the chief minister concluded. CM condolences: Buzdar condoled the death of the mother of Hamid Javed, Director Public Relations, Rawalpindi Division. He expressed heartfelt sympathies and condolences with the bereaved family. He prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage and strength to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss with fortitude. Buzdar also expressed a deep sense of sorrow and grief over the sad demise of Muhammad Hamid Siraj, prominent fiction writer. In his condolence message, the chief minister said that the services of Hamid Siraj are praiseworthy and the death of a writer is a collective loss of the society adding that his literary services can never be forgotten. He also prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace. The chief minister also expressed a deep sense of sorrow and grief over the death of Dilawar Abbas, former Senator and Chairman BoD of Sui Northern. In a condolence message, the chief minister condoled with the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul. He also appreciated the political, social and professional services of Dilawar Abbas.