BAHAWALPUR: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has launched a campaign against publicity fee defaulters and removed dozens of their hoardings and billboards.

According to PHA Director Rana Qadhafi Bin Shakoor, the drive has been launched to recover PHA’s outstanding arrears from the defaulters to meet the growing expenditure. He said the Authority was facing a crunch time and supposed to recover millions of rupees from publicity fee defaulters.

In the first phase, he said, the PHA launched the drive in the commercial areas of Satellite Town and on Hasilpur Road.

He said the drive would continue in all other localities particularly Circular Road till the removal of all hoardings of the defaulters.

The defaulters would have to pay their arrears within a month for being eligible for the hoardings to be installed next year.

He said Circular Road was the main source of income for the PHA which would launch campaign there during next week.

The PHA director said the recovery drive had been stepped up as the government did not allocate funds for current year’s development projects and the institution was running short of funds even to pay the salaries of its employees. The PHA would have to meet its expenditure from its own resources.

EDUCATION: Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has directed the officials to utilise all possible resources to achieve the targets of the education policy envisioned by the chief minister.

Speaking at a meeting of school education officials here on Tuesday, he claimed that the government had finalised a comprehensive strategy for best and purposeful education in the province and as such the officials should endeavour to implement the same for better results.

He asked them to ensure that no child remained out of school because the nation’s future was linked with education.

Punjab Education Secretary Malik Allah Bakhsh asked the officials to increase the admission of children in schools.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017