Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar opened his official residence Governor's House for the general public on Sunday. The Governor House will be opened for public recreation once in a week. A large number of families visited the sprawling historic place, its lake, lawns and hills from 10am to 6pm.
Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar in a Tweet said: "Today we welcomed the public to a soft launch of the Governor House in Lahore. We had an overwhelming response since 9am. It's the first time in history when a Governor of Punjab has opened the doors of the Governor House for the public. Our government is fulfilling promises made with the people of Pakistan."
Every citizen, along with his family was allowed to enter the Governor House by showing his Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) at the main entrance. Special security arrangements were made to meet any untoward incident. The PTI government has already opened gates of the Murree Government House and Sindh Governor House for the public.
The historic Punjab Governor's House spread over 71,5 acres of land is unique in many ways. The building was originally constructed in 1851. It has been an official residence not only for the governor but also for the president of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan, state guests, foreign heads of states and dignitaries who visited provincial capital as state guests.
The Governor House has the privilege to host several heads of the states, including Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, former Saudi King Shah Faisal, former US president Richard Nixon, former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former UAE president Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Libyan President Mohammad Muammar Gaddafi and dozens of other leaders. It has been an official residence of governors of the province for 150 years.
It is generally used for all official functions, including oath-taking ceremonies and federal cabinet meeting. It has a huge lawns, lake and hill, separate high schools for boys and girls, market, utility store, mosque, police line and residence colony for the employees of the Governor House.