LAHORE: Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Friday announced granting of the status of district for Jampur following a longstanding demand of its people. Jampur is a tehsil of Rajanpur district.

The chief minister made this announcement while chairing a meeting, which was attended by MNA Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak, whose son provincial minister Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak had got into an altercation with the chief minister and was asked to leave a cabinet meeting.

Later, Hasnain tendered his resignation, which the CM refused to accept, saying the minister was like his son. The chief minister said Jampur was like Gujrat for him, adding he wanted progress and uplift of the area at the earliest.

Mr Elahi vowed to make Jampur the “best district” of Punjab, saying the problems of its people would now be resolved soon. He said thousands of employment opportunities would be generated in the new district besides improving the service delivery system there as well as in Muhammadpur and Dajal. He further said Dajal and Muhammadpur would be accorded the status of tehsils of Jampur.

The CM also said establishing a university in Jampur was one of his priorities where students, especially girls, would get an opportunity to seek higher education.

MNA Nasrullah Dareshak expressed his gratitude to CM Elahi for making Jampur a district. He acknowledged that the CM had resolved the long-overdue problem of the local population.

Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari, who belonged to Rajanpur, said the people of Jampur would appreciate this decision.

The meeting was also attended by provincial minister Basharat Raja, MPA Farooq Amanullah Dareshak, Sardar Awais Dareshak, Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, former MPAs Meena Leghari, Dildar Cheema and Ali Bahadur Dareshak. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) retired Capt Asadullah Khan, Principal Secretary to the CM Muhammad Khan Bhatti, Acting Senior Member Board of Revenue Naveed Shirazi, the Rajanpur deputy commissioner and other officials concerned also attended the meeting while the Dera Ghazi Khan commissioner participated via a video link.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2022