MULTAN/FAISALABAD: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar asserts that there is no threat to his government as it is strong enough and the opposition is making baseless hue and cry.

He says the provincial government is going to give employment to 70,000 people and a summary to generate as many jobs was with him for approval.

“The jobs are being provided in the education and other departments to overcome the shortage of staff while the recruitment process will start soon,” he said while talking the media after visiting a mobile coronavirus vaccination centre established under the ongoing ‘Reach Every Door’ (RED) vaccination drive.

Mr Buzdar said Prime Minister Imran Khan was going to announce a relief package to mitigate the effect of increasing inflation and the provincial government also had got a plan to give relief to the masses.

Announces generating 70,000 jobs in various depts

Replying to a question about non-issuance of a notification by the provincial chief secretary regarding the powers of the additional chief secretary of south Punjab despite the amendments to the rules of business by the provincial cabinet, he insisted that the south Punjab secretariat would be made fully independent and the powers to all the departments would be transferred.

“All the departments (of the provincial government) will be shifted to the South Punjab Secretariat in phases. The PTI had promised that a separate province would be established along a separate secretariat and the grace of God, a separate secretariat has been established. The additional chief secretary and additional IG had been appointed while secretaries of various departments have started working in Multan and Bahawalpur. The Punjab cabinet has already amended the rules of business. Now all the powers will be with the south Punjab administration and all the matters, including development and transfer/posting, will be done from here,” he declared.

The chief minister said that after his visits to Bahawalpur and Multan, the secretariat would become fully functional and the people would not have to travel to Lahore for the solution to their problems related to the departments.

Replying to a question about alleged victimisation of journalists by police in the Multan region, Mr Buzdar said he always preferred to resolve the issues of the journalists community and all the issues being faced by the media persons would be resolved one by one.

Earlier, addressing a briefing, the CM said the coronavirus had affected the global economy and vaccination was the only option to control it.

“The Punjab government has launched a campaign to vaccinate the people at their doorstep by setting a target to vaccinate one million people on a daily basis. To make the campaign successful, 18,000 vaccination mobile teams have been formed besides establishing 14,000 vaccination centres,” he said.

During a visit to Faisalabad, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar inaugurated various development projects worth billions of rupees and met with the local parliamentarians and industrialists besides other people.

During a briefing, he was informed by the district administration about the measures being taken to control the price hike and profiteering.

The CM asked the officials concerned to expedite work on the development projects and crack down on the people involved in fleecing the masses. Those creating artificial inflation must be sent to jail as measures must be taken for the public relief, he said.

Mr Buzdar asked the officials and the parliamentarians to work jointly to bridle the profiteers, adding that the elected representatives should also monitor the development projects as the government would not compromise the quality of work.

He inaugurated various projects, including upgrade of the Khurrianwala Rural Health Centre, Sports Stadium in Tandlianwala besides education, drinking water, sanitation and roads projects worth of about Rs9bn.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2021