LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over a meeting here on Saturday where the Khadim-i-Punjab Rural Roads Programme was announced for the construction and rehabilitation of roads in rural areas of the province.

Giving approval to the project, Shahbaz said under a phased programme, Rs150 billion would be spent in three years. He said the programme would be started next month, according to a handout.

Addressing the meeting, Shahbaz said in the first phase, work on construction and rehabilitation of 255 roads would be completed at Rs15 billion during the current financial year. He also said the agri economy would flourish due to the project and job opportunities available to the people of rural areas. He said speedy travelling facilities would also be available to the rural people.

Meanwhile, presiding over another high-level meeting, the chief minister reviewed progress of the Punjab Schools Reforms Roadmap, which he claimed was yielding encouraging results.

Another handout quoted the chief minister as claiming that attendance of teachers, students and educational facilities in schools had improved substantially, adding that the system of punishment and reward should be fully adopted with regards to implementation on the roadmap.

The chief minister said officers of districts concerned would be held responsible over unsatisfactory performance. He directed that no efforts should be spared for achieving educational targets fixed up to 2018.

Shahbaz said promotion of education was important for overcoming problems such as terrorism, extremism, poverty and unemployment. He also said that in view of its importance, the Punjab government had taken effective steps for spreading education in every nook and corner of the province.

Special representative of Department for International Development UK, Sir Michael Barber, also gave a detailed briefing regarding the Punjab Schools Reforms Roadmap.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2015

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