‘11,000 more primary schools to be shifted to solar energy’

MULTAN: Punjab Minister for Energy Dr Akhtar Malik has said that 6,000 primary schools have been shifted to solar energy while 11,000 more primary schools would be shifted to solar energy by the end of current month to control loadshedding in the summer.

Talking to journalists here on Thursday, he said that his ministry was focusing on providing cheap and environment-friendly electricity to the masses.

He said that the Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant would start producing energy following gas supply from Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.

He said that the ministry would spend its profit on health and education projects for local population in Haveli Bahadur Shah.

He said that the ministry was going to hold a conference on energy soon.

Braille printing press: The government will set up a Braille printing press in Multan for the welfare of the special persons in the light of the prime minister’s vision to ensure education to all special persons.

Talking to journalists here on Thursday, Commissioner Shanul Haq said that MNA Ahmed Hassan Dehr had taken a special initiative and promised to provide Rs 140 million for the project. The PC-I of the project was in final phase, he added.

The commissioner said that wheelchairs and electronic white canes would also be manufactured in the printing press. He said that the divisional administration would complete the project following the Punjab government approval in the current fiscal year.

The facility would accommodate thousands of special persons in providing Braille education, he added.

Meanwhile, talking to this scribe, students and instructors at Muhammad Bin Qasim Blind Centre welcomed the establishment of the first Braille printing press in Multan and they said that the government should announce policies for the special persons so that they could also play their part in the country’s development. It was a responsibility of the government to ensure justice and rights to every single citizen, they added.

Instructor Sadia Kirmani said that the Braille printing press would be a blessing to the persons with disabilities (PWD) and they were almost 15pc of the total population.

She said that more than 5,000 visually impaired students were registered only in Multan.

All the students had been deprived of books for the last four years, she said, adding that the students were unable to take exams due to the unavailability of books. She said that there were two Braille printing presses in Lahore and Bahawalpur but both had been dysfunctional for the last five years due to out-of-order machinery and unavailability of printing papers. The establishment of Braille printing press in Multan would help in swift provision of Braille books to the specials students, she said.