Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that rights of sugarcane growers will be safeguarded. On the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister payments of more than Rs 175 billion have been disbursed to sugarcane farmers and the sugar mills will be bound to make timely payments to growers. An amount of Rs. 24 crore has been paid to sugarcane growers during last one week. Usman Buzdar said that sugarcane farmer protested on the rods in the past but did not get the reward of his hard work. He further maintained that farmers were badly exploited in the previous tenure. The powerful mafia made the sugarcane famer hostage. The PTI government has protected the rights to the farmers. The CM maintained that in the next season the farmers will reap the reward of their hard work. Farmers’ rights have been protected in the past and will continue to do so in the future as well. No one will be allowed to exploit the farmers. The PTI government is truly a farmer friendly government, Usman Budar added. A meeting of the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission was held under the chair of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at CM’s Office, to review the overall performance of the Commission. The meeting gave principle approval to establish Overseas Pakistanis Commission in Southern Punjab. Usman Buzdar said that setting up of OPC will provide relief to the people of the area. The meeting also decided to open OPC desks in all e-Khidmat Marakaz in different districts of the province as this would solve the problems of Overseas Pakistanis at the grass root level. The meeting also gave approval for the amendments in the OPC Act 2014 while the final approval of the amendments in the Act will be given by the Punjab Cabinet. The Chief Minister further directed that the Advisory Councils should be formed at the earliest as per rules and regulations. He said that people having good repute should be included in the Advisory Councils besides appointing members in the Districts Committees according to the rules and regulations. He said that the matter of giving allowances to the employees of Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission should be sent to the Cabinet Committee for Finance & Development. Moreover, he directed that the case of recruitment on the vacant posts in OPC should be re-submitted. The Chief Minister further directed the speedy disposal of the pending cases of overseas Pakistanis. He said that overseas Pakistanis are our asset as their services for the strengthening of national economy cannot be ignored. He asserted that the Punjab government will safeguard the rights of overseas Pakistanis and will ensure the protection of their properties in Pakistanis. The Chief Minister was briefed that the Commission has so far resolved 12532 complaints while the action is being taken on pending cases. Property worth billions of rupees has got vacated. Advocate General Punjab, Additional Chief Secretary, Inspector General Punjab, Vice Chairman Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission Waseem Akhtar, MPAs Omar Tanveer Butt, Khayal Ahmed Castro, Shahina Karim, Chairman Planning and Development, Additional Chief Secretary Home, other members of the Commission and concerned Officers were also present on this occasion. Senior members of the Board of Revenue attended the meeting via video link. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that Allah Almighty has blessed Pakistan with many beautiful tourist destinations. A new policy has been formulated by awarding tourism the status of an industry. He said that the tourism sector plays an important role in socio-economic development as it is the best source of foreign exchange. Promotion of tourism provides employment opportunities for local people. he further maintained that the ancient and attractive civilizations of Pakistan attract local and foreign tourists. Usman Buzdar in his message on World Tourism Day said that the tourism sector is among the top priorities of the government. He said that an effective measures have been taken to improve tourist destinations by providing missing facilities for the tourists. In order to promote tourism, 179 rest houses have been opened for the public in Punjab. New tourist destinations are being developed in Punjab. All possible steps will be taken to make tourism industry an active sector of the national economy.