Rule of law to be ensured at all cost: CM Usman Buzdar

LAHORE:Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Monday said that the government would go to every extent to ensure the rule of law.

The chief minister was talking to Kashmir Committee Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi and Federal Interior Minister Brig (r) Ijaz Shah who called on him at his office. They condemned nefarious attempts to malign the state institutions and expressed the commitment to counter every conspiracy. The meeting decided indiscriminate crackdown on violators of law.

The chief minister reiterated that the government would go to every extent to ensure the rule of law. Every possible step will be taken to protect the life and property of the people, he added. Some elements are targeting institutions under a specific agenda and propaganda against the institutions is deplorable as well as condemnable as the country is facing numerous challenges, he emphasised. No one will be allowed to take law into his own hands and the government will continue to stand firmly with the state institutions, he added. Federal Interior Minister maintained that there was no justification of criticism on institutions by some elements, adding that the specific agenda of the opposition aimed at making the institutions controversial has been exposed. The opposition is bent upon defaming the country through its anti-state narrative, he deplored. Legal action will be initiated against those levelling accusations against the institutions, he added.

Kashmir Committee Chairman Shehryar Afridi remarked that those accusing institutions were not well-wishers of the country and the opposition was trying to finagle its wicked designs by making the institutions debatable. Making of institutions controversial by those engaged in negative politics is equivalent to enmity with the country, he asserted. Law Minister Raja Basharat, Chief Secretary, IG Police, ACS (Home), and others also attended the meeting.

agriculture: Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office on Monday to review steps taken for the promotion of the agriculture sector on modern lines. Provincial Ministers Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak, Hussain Jahanian Gardezi, Chief Secretary, SMBR, Secretary Local Government, P&D chairman, administrative secretaries and agriculture experts attended the meeting.

They presented different suggestions to improve the agriculture sector according to the national needs. The chief minister directed the departments concerned to constitute a special committee for the promotion of the agriculture sector. This committee will submit a comprehensive plan in the next 10 days and decisions will be made in the light of the proposed roadmap. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister emphasised that the agriculture sector was the linchpin of national economy adding that it had a lot of potential for multifarious growth. The government will take every step to develop agriculture on modern lines as the growth of this sector is directly linked with the adoption of the latest technology, he said. Use of latest agro-based technology is the need of the hour, the CM added.

Usman Buzdar emphasised the role and importance of agriculture research in dealing with emerging food-related challenges. Punjab is an agrarian province and the development of the agriculture sector will strengthen the national economy along with making the farmersprosperous, concluded the chief minister.