LAHORE: Within two days of holding of the south Punjab province executive committee meeting that could not decide about the location of south Punjab sub-secretariat, senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen on Monday discussed the issue with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

The Punjab government in its meeting had sought proposals from the committee members, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, as there was no decision whether the sub-secretariat would be established in Bahalwapur, Multan or Lodhran.

Since Mr Tareen is lobbying for establishment of the sub-secretariat at Lodhran, he met Mr Buzdar at the chief minister office and discussed the progress on the issue.

A source privy to the executive committee meeting told Dawn that the members wanted the Punjab government to itself take the decision on the location of the sub-secretariat, but the chief minister decided that various proposals presented by the executive committee would be presented to Prime Minister Imran Khan after reviewing political, administrative and constitutional aspects of the matter.

The source said another suggestion floated at the meeting was that the government should hold a “secret ballot” among the legislators from south Punjab to decide matter, but the idea could not motivate the chief minister to take an executive decision in this regard.

Finally, the source said, the committee members empowered the chief minister to take a decision. However, the chief minister preferred to involve the the prime minister. The source said the decision was pending since this government came into power 18 months ago.

MINORITIES: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has ordered constitution of a special committee to deal with welfare of the minorities and look into the proposals floated by minority members of the Punjab Assembly in this regard.

Chairing a meeting on development projects and welfare of minorities at his office on Monday, Mr Buzdar said the government would take all minorities along and offer them equal share in development schemes.

He said the Punjab government, for the first time, decided to give a grant of Rs7 million for Holi and Diwali celebrations, while Rs60 million had been allocated for the minority communities.

He said the minorities empowerment package announced by the of Punjab was a step that should be followed by other provinces as well.

Under this package, he said, gurdwaras, Hindu temples and churches would be repaired and necessary facilities be provided at the places held sacred by the minorities living in the country.

He said the development projects would be designed in consultation with the representatives of minority communities and their problems would be resolved by the government.

Provincial ministers Samiullah Chaudhry, Ijaz Alam, parliamentary secretary Mahinder Pal Singh, MPAs Haroon Imran Gill, Peter Gill, Chief Whip Abbas Ali Shah and others attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020