Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif presided over a high level meeting, here Saturday which reviewed the pace of progress on ongoing projects in the province. Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said that besides maintaining standard and transparency, timely completion of development projects is the policy of the government and special attention is being paid to uplift of backward areas under balanced development policy.
He said that people are benefiting from mega development projects completed in the province. He said that work is being carried out speedily on public welfare projects of billions of rupees in education, health and other sectors. He said that programmes like Daanish School, Punjab Educational Endowment Fund, and distribution of laptops and encouragement of talented students are leaving a positive impact on education sector. He said that all Daanish schools have been set up in backward areas for promoting quality education and these schools have opened the doors of quality education to the children of poor families. Shahbaz Sharif said that more than 1.5 lakh less privileged talented students are studying with the help of Punjab Educational Endowment Fund. He said that Punjab government has diverted the resources towards less developed areas as progress of these areas is priority of the government.
He said that after metro bus projects in Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Lahore, work is being carried out expeditiously on metro bus project in Multan and resources are being spent transparently and honestly on the welfare of the masses. The Chief Minister said that the funds saved through austerity policy and economic discipline, are being spent on the welfare of masses. He said that resources of the nation are being spent on the projects aimed at minimizing the gulf between the rich and the poor.
He said that it is basic responsibility of departments concerned to ensure timely completion of development schemes. He said that a third-party audit policy is being strictly implemented for ensuring transparency in development projects. Shahbaz Sharif said that Punjab government has saved billions of rupees of the nation by promoting culture of transparency and there is no other such example in the history of the country. He said that such development projects and programmes are being implemented which would benefit maximum number of poor people.