No fee to be collected from sellers of sacrificial animals

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided not to collect any fee from sellers of sacrificial animals on Eid-ul-Azha. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has directed authorities concerned to adhere to ‘zero waste’ initiative during Eid days at all costs.

In this regard, the Eid-ul-Azha plan was finalised in a video link meeting of Chief Officers of municipal bodies across the province under the chairmanship of Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique on Wednesday.

LG Secretary Shakeel Ahmad Mian, Additional Secretary Maria Tariq and Secretary Local Government Board also attended the meeting. The minister said animal sale points will be established on “no profit no loss” basis. The meeting also decided to impose a ban on leaves of municipal staff for 10 days before and 3 days after Eid-ul-Azha.

The minister ordered eco-friendly bags free of cost to every house where sacrifice of animal will be conducted. The minister said he would visit animal sale points in different cities to assess the provision of facilities. He said the CM has clearly conveyed instructions about this and there will be no compromise on cleanliness arrangements. He directed, the senior officers of the LG Department to visit the field as well. He asked the municipal staff to arrange the disposal of hides without waiting for ending of the deadline. He sought Eid-ul-Azha strategy from every municipal committee in writing and asked the COs to display their mobile numbers at prominent places and sale points for the good. The minister said: “A Provincial Monitoring Cell will be established in the Secretary Local Government Office.” He said the elected representatives of each area would also be included in the monitoring process. “Negligence in cleanliness will not be tolerated during Eid holidays”, he warned. He directed that immediate action should be taken on the media reporting regarding the hides.