BAHAWALPUR, June 19: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says the Braille system of writing and printing for the blind will be shifted to Bahawalpur from Lahore.

The chief minister announced this while meeting heads of district government departments at the Circuit House here on Thursday.

The Braille printing press installed at the blind institute here had been shifted to Lahore by the previous government much to the inconvenience of local students.

The meeting continued for about four hours during which heads of departments informed the chief minister about development schemes and the pace of work in the district.

The chief minister said special measures had been taken to remove the deprivations of the people of south Punjab.

He said substantial funds had been allocated in the budget for mega projects in the district.

He warned the officials and contractors of strict action if the practice to use substandard material in development projects was not checked.

Shahbaz, who visited the city for the first time after assuming his office, urged the government officers to improve their performance and serve the masses.

The chief minister was informed that a sum of Rs7 billion was being utilized on the provision of water supply, sewerage and other basic amenities to the people of six districts, including Bahawalpur.

He was told that the district administration would spend Rs1.40 billion on different uplift schemes in the next financial year in the district.

Bahawalpur RPO K. B Awan claimed that the crime graph had dropped some six per cent in the Bahawalpur range.

Punjab Special Education Minister Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar, MNAs Saood Majid Chaudhry, Baleeghur Rehman, Malik Aamir Yar Warren, Begum Perveen

Masood Bhatti and MPAs Mumtaz Jajja, Kazim Peerzada, Haji Zulfiqar Ahmed and

Malik Jahanzeb Warren apprised the chief minister of problems of their respective constituencies.

Punjab Chief Secretary Javed Mahmood, secretaries of provincial departments, local heads, MNAs and MPAs of the area were also present.