LAHORE: The caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi Thursday visited Ganga Ram Hospital, to enquire about the health of the patients and facilities being extended to them.
The CM also met with those who were injured in an incident of wall collapse in Mozang area of Lahore. He directed doctors and the paramedical staff to provide best treatment facilities to the patients.
During the visit, the CM inquired from the administration about the facilities being extended to the patients. He vowed to provide quality healthcare facilities to the people.
Moreover, the CM ordered the provincial administration, PDMA, Rescue 1122 and WASA to remain alert and utilize all resources for water drainage. He directed the concerned officers that water drainage should be ensured on preferential basis from low-lying areas and main roads. He asserted that he will not tolerate any negligence in water drainage work adding that effective management should be done in order to maintain traffic flow.
Also on Thursday, Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority and Jail Department signed an agreement to introduce 16 Tevta courses for prisoners at 10 more jails of Punjab.
Chief Operating Officer Tevta Ahmad Khawar Shahzad and IG Jail Mian Farooq Nazir inked the agreement. The caretaker CM Mohsin Naqvi was also present.
Not only that the prisoners will be handed over certificates at the end of these two-month and six-month courses, but their prison terms will also be commuted. These courses will be introduced in the jails of Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Pakpattan, Okara, Jhang, Sargodha, Vehari, Toba Tek Singh and Layyah.
By undergoing these courses, prisoners will be able to become electricians, plumbers, welders, motorcycle mechanics and fashion designers.
Briefing CM Naqvi, Chief Operating Officer Tevta said that 25 prisoners would be enrolled in each course. “Tevta has so far imparted training to 20,000 prisoners, while training will be imparted to 10,000 more prisoners,” he said, adding: “Women and juveniles will also be able to undergo these courses.”
Later, the CM while chairing a meeting on jail reforms, reviewed progress on opening utility stores in jails. It was told that bakeries would be opened in Punjab jails in collaboration with affluent people, and that in the first phase a bakery would be opened at Camp Jail.
The meeting decided to increase duration of phone calls for prisoners to 300 minutes every month. Similarly, the project to restore and renovate 16 jails in the province also came under discussion. It was decided that modern kitchens, washrooms and laundries would be built in these jails.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Planning and Development Board chairman, secretaries industry, finance, health, communication, Punjab Information Technology Board chairman and others attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023