City of Saints ignored in past: Qureshi

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the city of saints has been ignored during the last thirty years.

Addressing the Multan Development Authority workers union oath-taking ceremony on Saturday, he said that he was making efforts to get special funds from the World Bank to uplift the city.

He appealed to the Punjab government to pay special focus and attention on the backward and most neglected city and allocate special funds for its uplift.

Unfortunately, the MDA was run on ad hoc basis in the past and it was kept deprived from the appointment of permanent DG, he added. The Punjab government wants feasibility of development works from the MDA, which remained lacking in the past, he said. The MDA officials should devise better strategy and planning for executing projects, he continued.

He said that unfortunately south Punjab development funds were lapsed or transferred to other cities in the past, he said.

The foreign minister daunted MDA and Wasa officials after failing to improve sewerage conditions. He said that he had allocated Rs 2 billion exclusively for Multan sewerage but the Wasa wrote a letter to the Planning and Development Division that the city did not need funds. The public servants should care about the people of Multan, he added. The MDA and Wasa officials should care about their prestige, he added. The Wasa, PHA and MSWM can make the city beautiful, he hoped.

He said that he would talk about the PHA workers pending salaries matter with the Punjab government. Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that old Multan had grave problems of sewerage, which had outdated, leaked and rusted. The citizens problems were increasing due to urbanisation, he added.

Four Punjab districts to have Violence Against Women Centres: Four Punjab districts will have Violence Against Women Centres to combat with growing violence against women.

Punjab Women Protection Authority chairperson Kaniz Fatima stated that while addressing a seminar held in connection with the World Women Day at Multan VAWC on Saturday. She said the Punjab government had decided establishment of the VAWCs in Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had decided promoting women in all fields of life, she said.

The government was launching an exclusive campaign to promote awareness regarding violence against women. The Multan VAWC was the best centre in Asia, she said.

Punjab Energy Minister Dr Akhtar Malik said that the government was exclusively focusing on promoting women in every section of life. The women were playing vital role in the society, he said. MPA Sabin Gull said that the Multan VAWC was facing critical shortage of funds.