LAHORE (Handout) - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the brothers and sisters from North Waziristan, displaced due to war against terrorism, will not be left alone in hour of need and their help and assistance is the collective responsibility of the society.
Presiding over a high-level meeting on Tuesday, the chief minister said that his government had set up Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for IDPs with a sum of Rs500 million, adding that philanthropists and public were donating generously towards the fund.
In the first phase, financial assistance of seven thousand rupees per family is being given to the IDPs, he added.
The CM said that the process of provision of financial assistance to the IDPs would be speedy and transparent. He said that besides providing financial assistance to the displaced persons, full cooperation would also be extended for their rehabilitation.
The CM issued instructions to complete the process of provision of financial help to all registered displaced families within next few days. Expressing dissatisfaction over delay in access to authentic data of IDPs, he said that he would tolerate no laxity.
He also directed to immediately finalise a speedy system of distribution of financial help among IDPs, while arrangements should also be made for sending fodder for the livestock of the displaced persons.
Sharif said that steps should also be taken for vocational training and provision of solar energy operated tube-wells for IDPs. He directed the concerned authorities to constitute a committee for monitoring distribution of financial assistance among IDPs.
Provincial Minister for Finance Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman will be the co-chairman of the committee.
The CM said that the displaced families of North Waziristan had to leave their home for a national cause and it was the national and religious obligation of every Pakistani to help the affectees in their hour of trial. He also appealed to philanthropists and affluent persons to come forward and donate generously towards Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, assuring that their donations would be distributed among the displaced persons in a transparent manner.
He said that government and people of Punjab had also donated generously for the displaced persons during Swat operation, adding that a modern hospital equipped with the latest healthcare facilities had been set up in Swat with a sum of Rs860 million.
He said steps should also be taken for vocational training and provision of solar energy operated tube-wells for IDPs. He directed the concerned authorities to constitute a committee for distribution of financial assistance among IDPs.
Provincial Ministers Rana Mashhood Ahmad, Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, Bilal Yasin, Ch  Shafiq, Chief Secretary, Senior Member Board of Revenue, Additional Chief Secretary, Secretary Finance, President Bank of Punjab, senior officials of various banks and others also attended the meeting.