LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the local government development package and progress on different matters pertaining to the Khadim-e-Punjab Saaf Dehat Programme.
Addressing the meeting, the CM said that every village would be made clean and added that this programme was a milestone for cleaning villages in the Punjab as it would enable the rural population to enjoy a spic and span environment around them.
He said that the special programme of one-time hygiene of the villages has been started and added that the first three districts showing best implementation of this programme will be fully encouraged; the local bodies’ leadership, as well as the administrative officers, will be lauded while the districts failing to show good performance will be held accountable.
The chief minister said that the programme has been given a final shape. He made it clear that third-party audit will be compulsory with regard to the implementation of this programme and that any violation of the planned policy will not be tolerated.
He observed that public money is a sacred trust of the people and it should be utilized in a very transparent manner. The process of one-time cleanliness of the villages should be completed according to the schedule as it is the right of the people living in villages to enjoy a clean and healthy lifestyle.
The CM directed to install a tracking system on tractors collecting solid waste and plantation of trees after removing the garbage. While directing to constitute monitoring teams to review the progress of cleanliness in the villages, Shehbaz said that these teams comprising of provincial ministers, secretaries and concerned officials should submit their reports after monitoring the system of cleanliness in the districts.
He said that the programme is a revolutionary step for the rural population and the initiative’s success depends on the hard work, passion, and commitment of ministers, secretaries and administrative officers.
“Punjab government has no dearth of resources and this programme has to be made successful as a national, religious and political obligation,” he said.
Provincial ministers Mansha Ullah Butt, Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, senior PML-N leader Khawaja Ahmad Hasaan, lord mayor Lahore, mayor Faisalabad, chairman district council Narowal, chairman district council Kasur, chief secretary, chairman planning & development and concerned officers attended the meeting while the chairmen of district councils, mayors and commissioners of Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur and Sargodha divisions participated the meeting through a video link.