Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif directed on Saturday that the task of paying first instalment of financial assistance among flood-affected people must be completed by Sunday (October 5). He gave this directive while presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Flood Relief. Provincial ministers Colonel Shuja Khanzada (Retd), Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, Bilal Yasin, MPA Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, chief secretary, IGP, Senior Member Board of Revenue and concerned officials attended the meeting.
Provincial Disaster Management Authority's (PDMA) director general gave a briefing about financial assistance to the affectees. The chief minister on this occasion announced that the losses caused to crops, houses and cattle would be compensated on the basis of survey, besides financial assistance would also be provided to those people who have lost their means of livelihood.
He said that it was for the first time in the history that the affectees were being compensated of their losses in days and not in months. He asked members of the Cabinet Committee to visit Jhang, Muzaffargarh and Multan on Sunday (October 5) to review the process of payment. The chief minister also offered his helicopter to Cabinet Committee for undertaking visit of the flood-affected areas. Shahbaz Sharif said that special bonus would be given to the staff working during holidays.