LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has asked the federal government not to impede the power generation projects of the province. The long-hour outages have become more threatening than the terrorism, the chief minister added.
Talking to senior civil servants at his Minar-e-Pakistan Tent Office on Monday, Shahbaz Sharif said the federal government was trampling all norms of justice by adopting a discriminatory attitude towards Punjab over the issue of loadshedding.
The chief minister accused the federal government of deliberately destroying industry of the Punjab by way of not implementing the decision taken at the energy conference of uniform loadshedding in all the provinces. He said he would not have stayed behind in raising voice of protest had the same kind of discrimination been administered by the federal government to any other province.
He said Punjab government was working on multiple projects of generation of energy through coal, hydle, solar and other sources, along with implementing projects of electricity generation in industrial estates. The chief minister warned the federal government not to create impediments in electricity generation projects in provinces, and stressed that if other development projects could be expeditiously implemented, the power projects could also be made operational at a quicker pace.
Shahbaz Sharif regretted that had the precious wealth of the poor not been looted and plundered, through rental electricity projects, the nation would not have faced agonising loadshedding. “Immediate action is need of the hour to bring the country out of the energy crisis,” he added.
The chief minister also directed government officers to work with commitment and dedication and serve the masses honestly. He said the purpose of this Tent Office was also to give a message that official responsibilities could be discharged in a simple atmosphere and at minimum expenses.
He said the Punjab government adopted austerity as a policy and directed that this policy ought to be implemented in all government offices and development schemes.
He directed the officers of the Labour Department to strictly ensure implementation of Rs9,000 minimum wage for all the labourers throughout the province.
Also, Shahbaz Sharif directed the police to ensure justice to the aggrieved at their doorsteps without putting them into the trouble of approaching him.
While hearing complaints at his Minar-e-Pakistan Tent Office on Monday, the chief minister strictly asked the police officers and the lower cadre personnel of the department to change their attitude.
Taking action on the complaint of a Gujranwala resident, whose son and nephews were killed by the proclaimed offenders and the police were inactive, the chief minister ordered suspension of the police officers concerned and their termination proceedings for not taking timely action to arrest the culprits.
The chief minister also inspected Raiwind Road on Monday. During his visit, Shahbaz Sharif directed that rehabilitation work of the road from LDA Avenue Chowk to Raiwind Railway crossing be further accelerated, and the project be completed within four months. He further directed to expedite the development work on the drain located near Tokhar Niaz Baig to Avenue Chowk and ensure its completion until July 20.
Meanwhile, the chief minister said on Monday that the Student Green Card Scheme, which provided honourable and cheap travelling facilities to the students, would be launched, from the first week of August in six more cities: Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Bahawalpur.