Punjab Agriculture Minister Dr Farrukh Javed has said that new roads are being built under Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Roads Programme. As many as 255 new roads will be built in first phase. This project is the biggest project in the history of Pakistan for the construction and rehabilitation of roads in rural areas. The project is being implemented speedily and a huge amount of 150 billion rupees will be spent on this project during next three years, he added. He said that trees will be planted on both sides of roads as per the availability of land and roads research labs will be built in different regions.
The minister stated this while presiding over the meeting of cabinet committee to review the progress of Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Roads Programme. Chairman P&D Irfan Elahi, Secretary C&W Mian Mushtaq, Dr Bodla, representatives of Finance department, Nespak and concerned authorities also attended the meeting. Dr Farrukh Javed said that all the districts of Punjab are included in the programme and merit will be the only policy in implementing the project.
He said that this project will also provide job opportunities to thousands of people. The minister further said that construction and rehabilitation of all rural roads of Punjab will be completed by 2018. Earlier Secretary C&W briefed the minister regarding progress of the programme and asked for further directions to implement the programme at a fast pace. Minister Agriculture notified a technical sub committee to review several areas of the project. The sub-committee will present its recommendations in ten days time.