–Shehbaz-led cabinet meeting approves draft laws, amendment bills
–CM says allocation of 42 per cent development budget for south Punjab a hallmark of PML-N
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said orphans and needy children had been returned their fundamental right to education by the Punjab government through Daanish Schools. “Thousands of needy children have been given necessary shelter of education,” he added.
Appreciating the performance reports of Daanish Schools and Centres of Excellence Authority for 2010-14 while presiding over a meeting of the provincial cabinet, the chief minister said that had the government not established the schools, the bright sons and daughters of the nation would have been deprived of their rights.
He also said that Daanish Schools’ alumni had become an important asset for their families and added, “The opponents of Daanish Schools have now realised their effectiveness and utility.”
“Our opponents want elite institutions like Aitchison College and Grammar Schools only for their children, but the Punjab government has shouldered the idea of Daanish Schools through an organised vision to produce a wonderful educational system for the bright but needy children of neglected segments of the society,” said Shehbaz and added that a country where the children of a common man could not excel owing to lack of resources, did not represent the Pakistan of Iqbal and Jinnah.
Later, the meeting approved Punjab’s policy for the protection of Human Rights. It also gave an approval for amendments in the Punjab Fisheries Ordinance 1961 and Fisheries Act 1999 along with the provision of land in the jurisdiction of the province for the 640-megawatt Azad Pattan Hydro Project.
Meanwhile, an approval was also given for long-term investment under Punjab General Provident Investment Fund Act 2009. It was decided that agri-marketing reforms should be initiated along with the approval of Punjab Agriculture Marketing Regulatory Authority Act 2018. The draft of the bill to introduce the proposed amendments in 1992’s act of forced labour was also approved besides the endorsement of minutes of the 29th cabinet meeting.
A documentary about the 1263-megawatt gas power project was also presented during the meeting. The project that is being completed with indigenous resources of the Punjab government, the chief minister said, would be the largest gas-based electricity generation project in the country.
“Continued hard work is being carried out and it is hoped that the project would be completed in a record period of time because the pace of work is faster than ever before,” said Shehbaz and added that the government had dealt with the energy crisis with commitment and hard work and exemplary work had been carried out by saving billions of rupees in energy projects.
Besides the provincial cabinet, advisors, special assistants, chief secretary and other officials attended the meeting.
Separately, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on Punjab Governor Muhammad Rafique Rajwana at the Governor’s House.
Matters of mutual interest, as well as the current political situation, came under discussion during the meeting.
Shehbaz while speaking on the occasion said that rapid completion of various development projects in the province especially in southern Punjab were creating ease of life for the people and allocation of 42 per cent development budget for southern Punjab was a hallmark of the PML-N government.
The governor acknowledging Shehbaz’s hard work said that development projects of Punjab were an example for other provinces’ administrators. “Punjab has made tremendous development during the last decade,” he said and added that construction and restoration of roads in rural areas had opened the horizon of prosperity for the cultivators.
