Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has directed to achieve the fixed targets for enhancing the provincial resources and asked the line departments to perform their duties proactively to achieve the tax and non-tax revenue targets.
Any delay in these steps, taken for increasing the resources, would be intolerable, he added. The chief minister also expressed displeasure over delay in steps taken for increasing revenue by some departments and said that revenue targets will be achieved by speedily disposing of file work and not by wasting time. The work will not be furthered by moving files from one department to another department, he added. The chief minister emphasised that files should not be kept pending without any valid reason as time would have not been wasted if departments had performed timely. He reiterated that file work should be disposed of speedily while following rules and regulations and added that increasing resources is essential to further facilitate the people. The line departments should ensure achieving their targets by working day and night, he said. He stated that an amount of Rs 211 billion has been released under the Annual Development Programme and the government has also saved billions of rupees by curtailing unnecessary expenditures.
The chief minister said that departments should ensure timely and correct utilization of released funds because the timely utilization of development resources is essential. He assured the government would continue to provide resources on priority basis for health, education and other welfare projects. He directed regular monitoring of funds’ utilization adding that relief package worth billions of rupees will be given in the month of Ramazan.
Usman Buzdar chaired a high-level meeting at his office on Wednesday in which progress on ADP, future targets and the performance of departments responsible for collection financial resources were reviewed. Secretary Finance gave a briefing about departments’ financial performance and future targets. Provincial Ministers Hashim Jawan Bakht, Dr Yasmeen Rashid, Malik Muhammad Anwar, Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmad, Chief Secretary, IG Police, SMBR, Chairman P&D, Chairman PRA, administrative secretaries and others attended the meeting.
Separately, Usman Buzdar directed to strictly implement a ban on growing of vegetable through sewerage water and added that formal legislation will be made in this regard. He said that different ailments have been increased in Lahore and other cities due to cultivation of vegetables through impure water. The act of growing vegetables through contaminated water will not be tolerated and water reservoirs will be developed in Lahore to save the rainwater. These reservoirs will be developed in Shadbagh, Shahdra, Babu Sabu, Mehmood Boti, Bund Road and other places and rainwater will be stored in greenbelts alongside the roads to improve underground water level, he added. He said that rainwater treatment plants will be set up in phases in different tehsils of the province. Similarly, recycling plants for ablution water and car washing will also be set up in collaboration with the private sector to reutilize the recycled water. Surface water treatment plants will be established to improve the underground water level, he added.
Chief Minister Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office on Wednesday to review different proposals about the installation of the wastewater treatment plants and reutilization of the wastewater. The chief minister was told that 60 crore gallons of water are daily wasted to sewerage. Chairman P&D, Commissioner and DC Lahore, Vice Chairman LDA Sh. Muhammad Imran, administrative secretaries, DG LDA and others attended the meeting. Separately, Usman Buzdar said that record legislation has been made in public interest during the last one and a half years. In a statement, he said that past governments made legislation for the sake of their personal interests and ignored public interest. He said that past rulers bankrupted and devastated the institutions and added that they are also responsible for existing drawbacks of the system. The chief minister emphasized that the PTI government started departmental reforms process from the day first and it is strenuously working to rectify the drawbacks spanning over many decades. Unlike the past, the power is not confined to the CM Office and provincial ministers are empowered while decisions are taken with consultations, the chief minister added. Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar also sought a report from the administration about the incident of sweeping away of a bus due to flooding in Sakhi Sarwar Canal area of DG Khan. He directed the line departments to expedite their rescue operation to search for the people swept away in the water.
