Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that a strict accountability system has been evolved for the improvement of police performance and elimination of corruption from the department. He was talking to members of National and Provincial assemblies of various districts here on Wednesday.
Talking to them, Shahbaz said that maintenance of law and order and protection of life and property of people is the top priority of the government. He said that government is implementing an agenda of public service. All out measures were being taken for the elimination of poverty, ignorance and unemployment as well as provision of basic amenities to the masses, he added.
He said that welfare and improvement of living standard of the people is the top priority of the government and development projects worth billions of rupees were being executed expeditiously across the province. He said that government is the custodian of every penny of public money and timely completion of development projects and transparent utilisation of funds has been ensured.
He said that assembly members should utilise all their energies for the betterment of the people and solution to their problems. The Chief Minister said that Punjab government is utilising all available resources for the uplift of the people and a number of public welfare programmes are being implemented successfully throughout the province.
He said that corruption has badly affected uplift process and the targets of development cannot be achieved without rooting out this menace from the society. He said that collective efforts are needed for this purpose. He said that in order to ensure transparent utilisation of national resources and timely and quality completion of development projects, Punjab government has made third-party audit system compulsory. He said that the steps taken for the uplift of education, health, agriculture and other sectors of social development are yielding positive results.
He said that special attention is being paid to the promotion of quality education and equipping the youth with the latest knowledge and scholarships are being awarded from educational fund to brilliant students facing financial problems to enable them continue their academic activities.
He said that no talented student would have to abandon studies due to financial constraints in future. He said that good governance and supremacy of merit has been ensured and 37 thousand educators have been recruited purely on merit first time in the history of the province. Similarly, he said, recruitment in police department have been made on merit basis.
He said that the world has assumed the form of a global village and promotion of information technology has become imperative for rapid development. He said that government has set up IT labs in 4286 high schools of the province to equip the youth with the latest knowledge. He said that 3.4 million students from Attock to Rahim Yar Khan would benefit from latest computer labs annually and gain current information about the affairs and trends of the fast changing world.
He said that low cost housing schemes are also being started for the provision of houses to the shelterless people. He urged elected representatives to ensure timely and quality completion of ongoing development schemes in their respective areas as well as play their role for ensuring participation of people in the development process.
The legislators said that unprecedented development programmes of Punjab government will bring about a visible change in the life of the people. Those who met the Chief Minister, included Mehmooda Cheema, Tahir Ahmd Sindhu, Haji Zulfiqar Ali, Chaudhry Muhammad Asadullah and Sardar Qaisar Abbas Khan.
Moreover, talking to a delegation of workers of Pakistan Muslim League-N Bahawalnagar, Shahbaz said service to the people is the mission of PML-N and the party workers who faced atrocities and oppression during dictatorial era a precious asset of the party. He said that government has evolved a solid strategy for bringing far-flung and backward areas at par with the developed ones and uplift projects are being executed in such areas on priority basis.