LAHORE   -  Punjab Caretaker Chief Minis­ter Mohsin Naqvi, chairing the 33th provincial cabinet meeting at the Civil Secretariat on Tues­day, addressed crucial matters. 

The cabinet approved an in­crease in driving licence fees effective from January 1. Until this date, driving licences will continue to be issued at the ex­isting rates. Starting January 1, the learner fee will surge from Rs60 to Rs1000, alongside an increase in LTV, HTV, and PSV li­cence fees. Residents of the US, Canada, and other countries can obtain a licence online by pay­ing $100.

During the meeting, the cab­inet endorsed a transparent lottery system for allocating government land to landless farmers in Cholistan. A substan­tial 3,44,000 acres of land will be allocated to landless farmers at subsidized rates.

Additionally, the cabinet ap­proved the transfer policy for MBBS and BDS students in gov­ernment medical and dental colleges, allowing transfers only from high-grade merit to low-grade institutions. The manage­ment of prison hospitals will be entrusted to the health de­partment and a healthcare sys­tem for prisoners was also ap­proved.

Funds were greenlit to double the number of nursing students, and a management committee for the Institute of Public Health Lahore was established. The cabinet renewed the agreement between the Specialised Health­care and Medical Education De­partment and the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Health Trust for the op­eration of Regional Blood Cen­tres in Multan and Bahawalpur.

Decisions were made to ele­vate Children’s Hospital Fais­alabad to the status of a medi­cal institute under the Punjab Medical and Health Institutions Act 2003. The establishment of PKLI-2 for South Punjab in Mul­tan Institute of Kidney Diseases was also confirmed.

Furthermore, the cabinet en­dorsed policy frameworks for the selection of vice-chancellors at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Lahore and Bahawalpur, along with the appointment of prosecutors from the Public Prosecutor De­partment to the FIA on a depu­tation basis.

Under the Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordi­nance 1985, Jinnah Garden was granted special status, and its administrative affairs were en­trusted to the Walled City Au­thority. The historic Umar Ma­hal of Chiniot was also placed under the management of the Walled City Authority.

The cabinet approved the re­vision of shooting licences and fees under Punjab Wildlife Rules 1974 and gave the green light to establishing a Potho­har campus of the University of Punjab in Gujjar Khan.

Additionally, an agreement with the National Highways and Motorway Police for the exchange of motor vehicle reg­istration information was en­dorsed. The decisions of the 10th and 11th meetings of the Cabinet Standing Committee on Legal Affairs and Privatization were confirmed.

CM CONDEMNS PESHAWAR BLAST

Punjab Caretaker Chief Min­ister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday vehemently denounced an ex­plosion near a school on Warsik Road in Peshawar. 

In his message, he extended heartfelt prayers for the swift recovery of all individuals, es­pecially the children, who were injured in the blast.