Chief secretary for preparing lists of jobless industrial labourers

LAHORE:Chief Secretary Azam Suleman Khan has directed the officers to prepare lists of industrial labourers rendered jobless by the lockdown in the province.

He issued these directions while addressing a meeting held to review the situation caused by coronavirus in the province. Provincial Law Minister Raja Basharat, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Momin Agha, Commissioner Lahore Saif Anjum, CCPO Zulfiqar Hameed and concerned officers attended the meeting whereas divisional commissioners and regional police officers joined through video link.

The chief secretary said that the government is fully aware of the financial problems being faced by daily wagers due to coronavirus and taking concrete measures to provide relief to them. He mentioned that under the Prime Minister’s Ehsaas Programme distribution of financial aid among deserving persons is underway in the province. He said that best healthcare for corona patients as well as protective gears for doctors and paramedics is being provided. He ordered the officers that transportation of wheat and pulses by licence holder dealers and Passco is not stopped to ensure uninterrupted supply of the commodities in the province. He said that farmers would be given all possible facilities during wheat harvest and procurement campaign.

The meeting was briefed that participants of Tableeghi Ijtema from other provinces, who had completed 14-day quarantine and tested negative for coronavirus, have started leaving for their hometowns. First batch of these participants of Tableeghi Ijtema include 465 persons, said the Additional Chief Secretary Home. The meeting was told that arrangements have been completed in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi in connection with arrival of passengers from abroad.

Portal for MPs: The Punjab government created a designated online portal for the parliamentarians to get their suggestions and schemes for the provincial budget 2020-21 in the wake of covid-19 pandemic.

The portal named ‘Aap Ki Rai’ was created in order to maintain the social distancing in the wake of covid-19 while the all members of Punjab Assembly would have access to the portal with their passwords and logins to submit their recommendations for the budget.

Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht Tuesday chairing a review meeting of provincial budget disclosed that the new portal was created with ‘budget2021.punjab.gov.pk’. He said the budget preparation was an important component and responsibility of the government and could not be completed without inclusion of the stakeholders, public representatives and elected members of the assembly. He said the despite delay in assembly session due to coronavirus pandemic, the pre-budget session and discussions were underway.

He said the member parliamentarians could send their suggestions in a simplified method to the Punjab finance department in two weeks. The finance department will present these suggestions.