Children with Down Syndrome need special care, says CM Usman Buzdar

LAHORE : Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that children suffering from Down’s syndrome deserve special attention from society.

In his message issued on World Down Syndrome Day here, the chief minister necessitated the need to run an awareness campaign to educate the people about this disorder, adding that steps should also be taken to rehabilitate the children suffering from this illness.

It is a collective responsibility to secure their future as these children belong to the nation, he added and maintained that an organised system is needed for the treatment and rehabilitation of such children who could be made a useful organ of the society through education and training. “The purpose of celebrating this day is to raise public awareness about care and treatment of children suffering from Down’s syndrome”, the CM concluded.

Steps taken to promote tourism: SACM: Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) on Information Hasaan Khawar said on Monday that the Tourism Department signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Punjab Infrastructure Development Authority under the World Bank’s ‘Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth' programme. He said the MoU was another step towards revival of tourism in the country and fulfillment of the government’s vision of making Pakistan a tourism hub. Under the MoU, Rs5 billion would be spent on restoration and repair of Taxila Museum, Rohtas Fort and Hiran Minar in Punjab, he added.

Later, talking to the media, Hassan Khawar said that on the special instructions of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, significant steps were taken for promotion of tourism in Punjab, besides installation of glamping pods at eight tourist spots, zip lining at four places, increasing tourism budget up to Rs2 billion and outsourcing of 22 tourist spots to private sector. Apart from this, development of Kotli Sattian and various places in south Punjab as alternative tourist destinations was also part of the agenda to strengthening tourism, he added. He said that the Tourism Department was also going to sign MoUs with the Irrigation, Forest and Auqaf Departments under which sites of these departments would be

developed and used as tourist destinations. Hasaan Khawar welcoming the participants in the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting on behalf of the CM, hoped that this meeting would prove to be an important milestone towards solving Ummah’s problems.