LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minster Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired the first ever meeting of Punjab cabinet in Bahawalpur and discussed a 22-point agenda.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said another promise had been fulfilled by holding the meeting of Punjab cabinet in Bahawalpur. “We will end the deprivation among the people of South Punjab. The whole province is my home and I will go to its every corner,” he added.
He said the least developed areas would be brought at a par with the developed areas. The cabinet meetings would also be held in other divisions as well. The public service done by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in a short time was the result of team work, he said, vowing to continue working for public facilitation with the same zeal, according to a handout issued here.
The cabinet approved the policy of impartial allotment of vehicles to provincial ministers and officers, and also the annual report of Punjab Power Development Board for the year of 2017, which would be presented in the provincial assembly.
It also gave its consent to the draft of the Punjab Water Policy. The draft of the Water Act would be prepared in the light of the policy and the Water Council would be constituted.
The proposal of the construction of Dadhocha Dam under the private-public partnership was also approved. The agenda of the control of the lower portion of the Chashma Right Bank Canal and the provision of complete share of water to the Punjab from the canal was also approved.
The report of the Auditor General of Pakistan on the Disaster Management Organization Punjab’s accounts for the year 2017-18 was also approved. The audit report of the Auditor General Pakistan for district health and education authorities of Punjab for the year 2017-2018 was also approved. The formulation of the Labour Policy of Punjab was also approved.
The meeting also gave its consent to the appointment of the vice chancellor of the Cholistan University of the Veterinary and Animal Sciences, and the formation of search committee. The final recommendations regarding the South Punjab Forest Company would be drafted by the advisory council, which would present its report to the chief minister.
The increase in the allowance of doctors on the basis of performance was also approved and it would be implemented by upcoming financial year. The implementation of the decision on the equal fee of tests in the hospitals was also approved. The process of the purchase of the ventilators, ICU beds and ICU monitors was also approved. The decision had been taken to regularize the assistant professors, who were recruited on a three-year contract. The recruitment on the 325 vacancies of the Social Welfare Department Punjab was also approved.
The meeting gave its consent to the recruitment of special persons on the basis of three per cent quota. The lapse fund of the 2017-18 financial year of the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company was also approved. The provision of funds for the current financial year 2018-19 for Balochistan Education Program was also approved.
The meeting also approved the subsidy for the export of sugar. The amendment in the Punjab Rules of Business 2011 was also approved to give the control of the Punjab Tianjin Engineering University to the Health Department. The measures for the establishment of the Chakar Khan Rind University, Dera Ghazi Khan were also approved.
The cabinet meeting also offered Fateha for the mothers of provincial ministers Ajman Cheema and Jehanzeb Khan, and MPA Dr Afzal.
Provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, chief secretary, secretaries of departments concerned and senior officials attended the meeting.