LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) is extending commendable cooperation for poverty alleviation and promotion of education, health and vocational education in various areas of Punjab.
He said this while talking to a DFID delegation, headed by George Turkington on Thursday. Referring to his visit to Britain, Shahbaz said that he had fruitful meetings with various personalities which would open up new avenues of cooperation in different sectors. He said that he would always cherish the memories of the warm welcome extended to him and his delegation in Britain.
Regarding the projects for the development of Punjab and welfare of masses, the CM said that Punjab government was implementing a comprehensive programme for elimination of poverty, unemployment and ignorance as well as economic uplift of the deprived segments of the society and a substantial amount has been allocated in the new budget for this purpose.He said that the aim of progress could only be achieved through promotion of education, therefore, a revolutionary strategy has been adopted for this purpose. He said that Daanish Schools were being set up in the province for providing modern educational facilities free of cost to the children of the poorest parents and Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) was also helping poor.
Similarly, he said, project of mobile health units has been started for providing treatment facilities to the people of far-flung and backward areas and mobile hospitals would be provided at the tehsil level under a phased programme. He said that these measures of Punjab government were aimed at progress of the province and will also help in elimination of terrorism and extremism. He said that good governance and transparency have been promoted in the province and third-party audit system introduced in 1998 for quality completion of development projects has been revived and was strictly being implemented.
He said that culture of austerity has been promoted in the province and the members of his delegation who visited Britain set a worthy example by paying all expenses from their own pockets. He said that improvement of public transport system was also among the priorities of the government and besides provision of buses for comfortable and reliable travelling facilities to the people, work on Lahore Mass Transit Project was also in progress. He said that the most modern forensic lab of South Asia in the provincial metropolis was also in final stages.George Turkington appreciated the measures taken by the CM for development of province, welfare of masses and ensuring transparency and assured that DFID will continue to extend maximum cooperation for development of various sectors in Punjab. – Dailytimes
