Affordable houses to be built: Mujtaba

LAHORE:Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that in semi-urban areas, affordable housing schemes will be completed under Punjab Chief Minister’s flagship programme ‘Apni Chhat Apna Ghar’.

He said this while presiding over the ninth meeting of the Cabinet Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs and Privatisation at the Civil Secretariat’s Darbar Hall here on Thursday.

Addressing the meeting, he directed that the practice of trading vacant seats under the guise of self-finance in medical colleges must be halted immediately. Health is a sensitive sector, and ensuring merit-based admissions in medical institutions is critical. The growing use of formula milk, which contributes to malnutrition in young children, should be curbed, he said.

He said that public hospitals should be prohibited from unnecessarily prescribing formula milk for newborns. The excise department must guarantee that new vehicle number plates issued in the market include essential security features, he added.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman instructed the health department to review the admission policies of medical and dental colleges to ensure strict adherence to merit. Provincial Law Minister Malik Suhaib Bherth, Minister for Local Government Zeeshan Rafiq and Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bukhari attended the meeting.

The meeting approved more than 17 recommendations received from various departments, including the restructuring of the boards for the Sargodha and Gujrat Waste Management Companies, the appointment of the vice chairperson and technical members for the Punjab Agriculture, Food and Drug Authority, and the extension of an agreement with the Punjab Health Facilities Management Company to continue delivering healthcare services across the province.

Additional approvals included amendments to the recruitment schedules and promotion rules for sub-inspectors, inspectors and assistants, the extension of the agreement between the Social Welfare and Family Education Foundation and the completion of Peri-Urban Affordable Housing Schemes in Raiwind, Chiniot and Sargodha. Azma Bukhari expressed concerns about giving private sector businesspersons authority in public sector matters. She stated that the inclusion of individuals from private sector on the boards of solid waste management companies could lead to conflicts of interest, ultimately affecting the companies' performance. She added that admissions to medical colleges on a self-finance basis are unfair to deserving students and private medical colleges should not be allowed to operate purely for profit.

Malik Suhaib Bherth emphasised the need for bold decisions to reform institutions. He recommended forming a committee within the health department to develop an admissions policy for medical colleges, ensuring representation from all stakeholders, particularly students.

Zeeshan Rafiq underscored the importance of district representatives in waste management companies and described any compromise on merit and medicine quality in the health sector as a crime. He pointed out that the government must curb negative trends in educational institutions, stating that admissions on a self-finance basis will promote class disparity and inequality.