Shahbaz forms committee to raise funds for IDPs

28 Jun, 2014

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday issued directives to constitute a committee for launching fund-raising campaign for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The chief minister was presiding over a high level meeting here, which reviewed in detail steps taken for the assistance of displaced people of North Waziristan.

He said the Punjab government would provide all possible help to sisters and brothers of North Waziristan displaced due to the war against terrorism.

He said the Chief Minister's Relief Fund with a sum of Rs 500 million had been set up for IDPs whereas the Punjab Cabinet and PML-N Assembly members had also donated their one month's salary in the fund.

Officers of Punjab government from grade-16 to grade-22 would also donate one-day salary in the Relief Fund, he added.

The Chief Minister constituted a committee headed by MPA Khurram Gulfam for distribution of financial assistance among the IDPs. The committee would evolve a foolproof system in this regard.

Addressing the meeting, Shahbaz Sharif said helping the displaced persons was a national and religious obligation.

He said the Punjab government would launch a vigorous fund raising campaign for providing maximum assistance to the IDPs.

He said the Punjab government was standing with the displaced Pakhtun brothers and sisters in the hour of trial and would not leave them alone at any cost. The government had sent a consignment of relief goods worth Rs 100 million through 50 trucks to Bannu, he added.

He said the Punjab government would continue its cooperation till the return and complete rehabilitation of affected persons.

Shahbaz Sharif directed that a comprehensive mechanism be evolved for the financial assistance of the displaced people.

He appealed to philanthropists to donate generously in the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Each and every penny donated by them would be distributed among the affected in a transparent manner.

Provincial ministers Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman, Bilal Yasin, Parliamentary Secretary on Information Rana Muhammad Arshad, Members Assembly Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Bao Akhtar, Mian Rafique, Waheed Gull, Khurram Gulfam, Rana Shoaib Idrees, Mahmood Qadir Khan Leghari, Chief Secretary, Senior Member Board of Revenue and concerned officials attended the meeting.

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