ISLAMABAD, July 20: Punjab Chief Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday said the provincial government would provide 100,000 jobs to the people in next two years.

The chief minister said he had lifted the ban on jobs imposed by the previous government to provide 100,000 jobs in education, police and other sectors. Initially, around 25,000 jobs would be provided on priority basis, he added. However, he said it was very difficult for the government to provide jobs to all unemployed people in the province without cooperation of the private sector.

Ch Pervaiz Elahi said the provincial government had consulted all chambers of commerce prior to setting up new industries in the province. To meet the technical requirements of the industry, it had also been decided to open new technical institutions in the province with the cost of Rs40 million, he added.

Answering a question, the chief minister said he was satisfied with the law and order situation in the province. He said 900 new vehicles and 3,000 wireless sets would be provided to the police to improve their efficiency.

The Punjab chief minister said the government had decided to set up modern check posts after every 20 kilometres on the highways to check crime especially the highway robberies, while 20 more check posts would also be set up in next year.

Responding to a question regarding crime against women and children, he said a special cell had been set up in the chief minister house to monitor these type of cases.

In reply to a question about rebuilding of new dams and reservoirs, he said these could only be constructed after the consensus of the provinces.

Pervaiz Elahi said quality education was top priority of the provincial government. He said the Punjab government had decided to provide free textbooks from class one to five, while Rs400 million had been earmarked for providing technical education to the students of class eight and nine.

Replying to a question regarding the attitude of the opposition, he said every opposition member was bound to participate in the public-welfare legislation. “I asked the opposition members to join hands with the government for the collective welfare of the public after taking oath of the office.”

In reply to yet another question on the LFO, he said the opposition parties were fully aware of the LFO and the uniform of president before the election. However, he expressed the hope that the recent dialogue offer of the prime minister to the opposition in the National Assembly would help settle the problem very soon.

On the agricultural side, the Punjab chief minister said the provincial government had already taken remarkable steps to mitigate the problems of the farmers. The role of Patwaris in water distribution has been finished that will definitely help the farmers, he added. Pervaiz Elahi said the flat rate of “aabyana” (water tax) had been introduced, which would solve the problems of the farmers. — APP