‘Punjab govt believes in service, not hollow slogans’

LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan Wednesday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Punjab believes in serving the masses and not merely raising hollow slogans.

Addressing a press conference here at 90 Shahrah Quaid-i-Azam, he said one could witness a visible change in the working of the provincial government and those holding charge in the past 10 years. He said that with the grace of Allah Almighty, no allegations of corruption were levelled against Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar or his team during the past one-and-a-half years. He said that in the past, money laundering was done and the public vehicles and public offices were misused with impunity.

He said that the Jalalpur Canal project issue had been resolved under the leadership of Sardar Usman Buzdar, which had been pending for long. The project would irrigate barren lands of 80 villages in Khushab and Pind Dadan Khan areas, he added.

The minister said that almost 175,000 acres of barren land would turn fertile with the launch of the canal project, he added. Chohan said that the canal system would bring agricultural revolution in the region. Earlier, people of the area were dependent on rainwater, adding that the system would directly benefit 375,000 people, he added.

The minister said, "It is a complete water package.” Besides irrigating crops, it will also help provide clean drinking water to 26 villages,” he added. Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chohan said that 17 drinking water points would also be established on the canal system. The Punjab information minister said that Allama Iqbal Industrial Zone was one of the 10 zones, which were promised and announced in the 2019-20 budget.

He said overall one million people would get jobs through Allama Iqbal Industrial City, adding that investment of one billion dollar was being made in the project. The economic zone was being developed under the supervision of the Punjab government and it was a big achievement of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, he added.

The minister said that in Punjab, under the Local Government Act, people and elected ones had been empowered. For the first time, under the leadership of Punjab chief minister, village Panchayat, neighbourhood council had been introduced and powers delegated to the tehsil governments, the minister added.

He said that when local governments elections would take place in March or April, people would witness a good change. He said that under Naya Pakistan Manzilain Asaan programme, 1500-km long roads had been constructed in one year. The Punjab information minister said that 9 development projects were being started with Rs 24 billion funding. He said these project were related to land development, high-value agriculture, cotton research, research farms, agriculture markets and others.

The minister said, "Village Access Programme" was aimed at constructing farm-to-market roads on yearly basis, adding that centres were also being set up where farmers could sell their products directly. He said that almost 910,000 kanals of public land had been retrieved from illegal possession by the PTI government in Punjab so far.

The minister said that for the first time, e-transfer policy had been introduced in Punjab for transfer of teachers, adding that in the past, no one paid heed to improve the system. He said, "Insaf afternoon school" programme helped in bringing 21,000 out-of-school students to educational institutions.