LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Finance Hashim Jawan Bakht and Provincial Minister for Prisons Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan separately called on Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at CM's Office, on Sunday. The Chief Minister congratulated the provincial minister for presenting peoples' friendly budget for the current financial year. Hashim Jawan Bakth thanked Usman Buzdar for his full support in the preparation of the budget and Annual Development Program.
The Chief Minister stated that the Punjab government is committed to the timely completion of development projects to maintain the economic growth in the province at a steady pace. He further maintained that the availability of 100 percent allocated funds for ongoing development schemes should be ensured.
He said that funds have been released by the Finance Department for the ongoing schemes for the Annual Development Program of the financial year 2021-22 and Communications & Works and other concerned departments have also instructed to accelerate the pace on the different development schemes without any delay. He said that under the Planning & Development Department an effective monitoring mechanism has been devised.
The Chief Minister directed to maintain financial discipline, curtail unnecessary expenditure and strictly implemented the policy of austerity. A tax relief package of more than Rs 56.5 billion has been given to support the economy affected by the Covid-19, he concluded.
Meanwhile, Provincial Minister for Prisons Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan discussed matters of mutual interest political issues and departmental performance. For the first time in the history, a Chief Minister has visited more than 10 jails to review and inspect the problems of prisoners as no ruler had ever visited jail since Pakistan came into being. He said that multi-storey barracks are being constructed in seven jails and Prisoner Management Information System has been launched in 21 jails of the province. He said that all possible steps are being taken for the betterment of the prisoners. Usman Buzdar further directed to improve the monitoring system of the jails and said that the outdated jail manual system would be changed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021