Water issue: Punjab won't budge an inch from its stand, Shahbaz assures Assembly

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif on Friday told provincial Assembly that he would hold a meeting with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on water issue, saying that Punjab will not budge an inch from its stand on the issue. Speaking in the house, the CM assured the members that he would apprise them of the outcomes of his meeting with Prime Minister on the water issue.
Regarding the Mass Transit Scheme, Shahbaz said that the provincial government was working on the project and it would be completed within the stipulated timeframe. He informed the house that out of the allocated Rs 800 million for the project, Rs 400 million were misappropriated previously. In this regard, he said, a case has been sent to National Accountability Bureau (Nab). Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah speaking on an adjournment motion regarding purchase of Chinese buses said that 117 buses had been imported, out of which 23 were plying on Ferozpur Road.
The Minister averred that these buses were cheaper than the Hino buses already on the roads. Sanaullah further pointed out that a GM dealing the buses purchase had already been sacked for his ambiguous involvement in financial affairs. Regarding another adjournment motion about PCS cadres he averred that Chief Minister Punjab would talk to them during the oath taking of the newly elected body.
Parliamentary Secretary for Human Resource and Tourism Rana Arshad replying a query pointed out that except a Toyota Hiace Van there were no buses for tourists with TDCP. To another query he said that in 2001 Government of Pakistan formulated a policy to do away with the forced labour of children. He said to eradicate the menace, government had initiated programmes in collaboration with ILO in Football industry in Sialkot in which education was being given while being employed.
He said a similar programme had been initiated in medical instrument industry in collaboration with ILO. To another question he told the house that there was no law in force regarding home based workers. Rana Arshad said that under the Tourism Department, there were six tourist resorts in Punjab. Later, the House was adjourned to meet against on Monday.