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Thursday March 28, 2024

AWP demands province for Seraiki people

By Our Correspondent
March 03, 2020

MULTAN: The third congress of Awami Workers Party (AWP) Seraiki Wasaib Monday urged the government to declare a province for the people of Saraiki region.

The AWP also announced launching a mass mobilisation campaign for early creation of the province. The AWP Saraiki Wasaib third congress elected Farhat Abbas as its president and assigned the task of mass mobilization on Saraiki province. Talking to reporters at Multan district court, Farhat Abbas said rulers and mainstream political parties were not committed and serious in the creation of Saraiki province. However, the AWP demands a constitutional province for the Sataiki region. He said the incumbent government was not making serious efforts in this regard.

The division of Punjab is a thorny issue and all mainstream political parties are playing politics on the issue. Criticizing Janoobi Punjab Suba Mahaz, he said the group betrayed his voters and promised the creation of Saraiki province in first 100 days of forming the government. He said in April, around a dozen lawmakers from the ruling PML-N rebelled to form the Janoobi Punjab Suba Mahaz (JPSM). They later merged the JPSM with the PTI, following a written agreement that if the PTI formed the government post-2018 elections, the party would be bound to create a south Punjab province within the first 100 days of its rule. However, the Mahaz has played with the people of this remote region, he maintained. The Farhatullah Babar led Province Commission has endorsed discriminatory policies towards south Punjab. “The people of south Punjab felt deprived in terms of resource allocation, job quotas, educational institutions and development projects. The quota of Punjab in the federal civil bureaucracy is nearly 50 per cent of the total, he said quoting Province Commission report. “However, they only get 12 to 15 percent of the Punjab quota in federal jobs. The number of Punjab officers in the three important civil service groups including DMG, Police and OMG, is 1086, including 146 from Rawalpindi division, 149 from Gujranwala division and 338 from Lahore division.

As against this, three divisions of south Punjab namely Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Bahawalpur jointly received a share of only 157 officers in these three groups,” Farhat Abbas said.

Punjab govt offers 50pc subsidy on solar system for sprinkle drip irrigation: The Punjab Agriculture Department is offering 50 per cent subsidy on installation of solar system, for sprinkle and drip irrigation, in order to meet water shortage and promote agriculture productivity. According to Agriculture Department AD Naveed Asmat Kahloon, sprinkle and drip irrigation system was being introduced at 20,000 acres in the province. The govt earmarked Rs 3.68b for the project. Sprinkle and Drip Irrigation System was of vital importance, he added. It would not only save water for irrigation but also enhance agriculture productivity, he maintained.