LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that the inauguration of the Punjab Agriculture, Food and Drug Authority (PAFDA) marks the realization of a long-cherished dream, aimed at ensuring scientific justice, food safety, and international-quality standards in Punjab and across Pakistan.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the chief minister described the new authority as more than just a modern structure. “We are not standing in a building of glass and steel; we are standing inside a dream that has finally taken its first breath,” she said, attributing the vision of this path-breaking reform to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif during his tenure as chief minister Punjab.
Recalling the prime minister’s efforts to strengthen forensic systems, Maryam Nawaz said that weak evidence had long undermined justice in the country. She noted that in 2011, Shehbaz Sharif laid the foundation of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), providing Pakistan with its first state-of-the-art forensic laboratory.
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She announced a massive expansion of the PFSA under her government, with an investment exceeding Rs 5 billion. She said 142 high-tech machines have already been made operational in Phase-I, while 565 additional machines and equipment are in the pipeline and will be installed in the coming months. To ensure justice reaches every doorstep, she said PFSA’s satellite crime scene units are being expanded from 8 to 38 districts, with another Rs 5 billion investment.
Highlighting the scope of PAFDA, the chief minister said the authority will address critical challenges such as unsafe food, fake fertilisers, substandard medicines, and water contamination. She said the new facility will conduct testing of food, drugs, cosmetics, fertilisers, pesticides, soil, biomedical devices, alternative and biological medicines, orthopaedic implants, and animal feed—making Punjab the first province in Pakistan to formally test animal feed.
Maryam Nawaz further stated that the PAFDA has established international linkages with the US Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and UK-based CABNI to ensure global compliance and credibility.
She revealed that the authority currently employs 232 scientists, including over 100 gold and silver medallists, with women making up nearly 70 percent of the workforce. She also announced the establishment of hostel accommodation for female scientists recruited across Pakistan.
Calling Punjab an agriculture-based economy, the chief minister said the absence of modern quality testing laboratories had previously harmed both exporters and consumers, leading to rejected consignments and lack of international compliance. She stressed that products unfit for export should also not be consumed locally, emphasizing that quality standards must be uniform for domestic and international markets.
Speaking on governance reforms, Maryam Nawaz highlighted Punjab’s digital transformation, including paper-free governance, e-tendering, e-procurement, and a faceless e-business initiative that has issued online approvals to 23,000 businesses within 60 days. She also cited the use of drones as first responders at crime scenes and fire incidents, AI-based traffic and child protection systems, and the launch of a virtual women police station that has assisted hundreds of thousands of women.
She announced that from the first week of April, students in government schools across Punjab will begin training in artificial intelligence.
Concluding her address, the chief minister said that the expansion of PFSA from 8 to 38 districts will help end outdated practices in evidence collection and ensure international best practices. “Justice should not be in the hands of a few; it must be a guarantee for all,” she said, adding that science will now lead the pursuit of justice in Punjab.
She termed the Punjab Science Enclave a tribute to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s vision and legacy, saying her government has worked relentlessly over the past year to turn a stalled dream into a living reality for the people of Pakistan.
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