*LAHORE: **Punjab Cabinet meeting takes landmark decisions over tourismpolicy, Police and Civil Servants allowances.*
*The Punjab cabinet has approved its first tourism policy besides promisingprovision of special package for the promotion of the sector.*
A session of the provincial cabinet held under the chair of the ChiefMinister Sardar Usman Buzdar where various important decisions were taken.The session was attended by provincial ministers, advisers, specialadvisers, chief secretary and senior officials.
CM Buzdar approved Punjab’s first tourism policy, said that a specialpackage will be finalised for the interest of tourists to promote tourismfor enhancing the soft image of the country. He said special benefits willbe given to private investors who show interests in investment.
The provincial cabinet, while taking another landmark decision, approvedrestoration of the fix daily allowance of the Punjab Police which had beenfrozen since 2005 with the average of 2013.
Under the restoration, the Punjab highway patrolling police and trafficwardens will also the allowance with same percentage. The approval was alsogiven to the executive allowance for the civil officers appointed on thecadre post. The civil officers will get the executive allowance equal to1.5 times of the basic salary. The special allowance equal to 1.5 times ofthe basic salary was also approved for the grade 1 to 16 employees of theCivil Secretariat on the instructions of the chief minister.
Moreover, the cabinet also gave approval to the allotment of the governmentland for landless farmers of Cholistan. a scrutiny committee has beenformed to proceed with the allocation process of the land will be made in atransparent manner. The meeting also approved the land in the Cholistanarea of Sadiqabad tehsil for Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) for oilexploration.
A financial aid package was also approved for the farmers whose crops havebeen damaged in rainstorms and hailstorms. Fifty-five villages of 27districts have been declared calamity hit and they have been exempted fromMalia and Aabiyana (water tax).
CM Buzdar directed concerned authorities to estimate the damage to cropscaused by floods in some parts of Jhelum.
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The meeting has also decided to introduce the grading system in thematriculation, intermediate and graduation exams in phases. Theimplementation of the first phase of the grading system has been approved.
While giving approval, CM Buzdar said, “The grading system is the vitalmeasure towards the uniform education system which would also end cramming.We will introduce a system that will enable our students to compete at theinternational level. A committee has been constituted to review theimplementation of the second and third phases of the grading system,” saidthe chief minister.
An amendment in the Government Land Disposal Policy was approved by theprovincial government. The provincial cabinet has approved the leasing ofgovernment land on open auction. The decision has been taken to giveownership rights of the land leased to landless farmers and the sodbusterswho will cultivate 80 per cent of the land.
The cabinet also approved the appointment of the members of the Board ofDirectors (BoD) of the Parks and Horticulture Authority, Sialkot.
The cabinet meeting also approved the audit report prepared by the AuditorGeneral of Pakistan for the Punjab government accounts for the financialyears of 2016-17 and 2018-19. The audit report will be presented in thePunjab Assembly after the approval of the cabinet. The decisions of the10th and 11th meetings of the Cabinet Standing Committee for Finance andDevelopment were also endorsed.
Moreover, the progress of implementation on previous decisions taken by theprovincial cabinet was also reviewed.
