NDU delegation lauds Punjab govt initiatives

LAHORE : The participants of the 25th National Security Workshop (NSW), organised by the National Defence University (NDU), visited the Chief Minister's Office 8-Club Road here on Saturday.

Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, on behalf of the Caretaker Chief Minister, welcomed the delegation headed by NDU’s Institute of Strategic Studies and Research Analysis (ISSRA) Director-General Maj-Gen Raza Aizad.

The participants were briefed on law and order, development projects, e-governance and reforms in various sectors including education and health in the province.

The delegates appreciated the initiatives taken by the provincial government for the good governance and progress of the province. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary said that since the last eight months, the provincial government has been following a comprehensive agenda of the development of the province.

He mentioned that work on 43 development projects including the upgradation of hospitals, construction and repair of roads is underway on a priority basis and the caretaker Chief Minister regularly reviews progress on these projects every week.

He said that concrete measures have been taken for the financial management of the province, promotion of information technology, and improvement of governance, adding that billions of rupees have been saved due to a better economic policy.

He said that a policy has been adopted to refuse commercial loans for any development project. The Chief Secretary said that paperless working has been started to improve the performance of the government departments and reforms are being introduced in education, health, agriculture, tourism and social sector. He said that for the provision of basic facilities at the village level, "Ab Gaon Chamkein Gay” programme has been launched.

IG Dr Usman Anwar said that a well-coordinated action plan has been prepared to control crime in the province. He said that an area of 61,000 acres has been cleared during the operation in Katcha area and 53 check-posts have been established to maintain law and order.

He said that to eliminate the delay in FIRs, the registration period has been fixed according to the nature of the cases. He said that CCTV cameras have been installed for monitoring in all 735 police stations across the province.

The IG said that to strengthen the system of accountability in the police, a proposal to establish the police complaint authority is under consideration.

He said that so far 20 million people have benefited from the 14 services provided at the Police Khidmat Centres. Maj-Gen Raza Aizad said that the initiatives taken by the Punjab government for the development and prosperity of the province are worth emulating and these must be continued in future.

The Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Senior Member Board of Revenue, Chairman P&D, Secretary Finance, Chairman PITB and other officers were also present on this occasion.