GUJRAT: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has said his government has planned an initiative to give Rs60,000 monthly ration package to the families having two or less children to encourage family planning by involving the World Bank.

Addressing the students as a chief guest at the 7th convocation of the University of Gujrat (UoG) here on Friday, Mr Elahi said the package to be introduced under the Ehsas Programme to revive the family planning sector that remained neglected in the past.

He said Shehbaz government had brought a “tsunami of inflation and price hike” in the country that has badly exposed Mr Sharif, alleging the PML-N leadership would come to the country and took dollars abroad.

He says the nation under the able leadership of Imran Khan is heading towards the goal of prosperity and progress as “Mr Khan is not scared of anybody, nor he could bow to any one”.

UoG Vice Chacnellor Professor Dr Shabbar Atiq, former education minister Mian Imran Masood, PML-Q lawmakers, Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Amer Shahzad Kang and others were also present.

Mr Elahi said Mr Khan was a truthful leader and “I would always defend him if anybody tried to criticise him without any justification.” However, he added: “I have the courage to express my opinion in front of Mr Khan and my views often prove right with the passage of time.”

He said the PML-N had launched a propaganda campaign after he came into the power in Punjab saying from where his government would get financial resources, “but the time has proved that his government’s intensions are good and it has enough resources to spend on the uplift of the masses.” he added.

Similarly, he said, the flood-affected people would also be compensated through financial assistance from Ehsas programme, whereas the stipend for children had been increased by 100 percent in south Punjab.

He said that acting on Islamic teachings, his government had introduced mandatory reading of the Holy Quran with translation in the educational institutions and free books were being provided to the students.

He announced a 700-bed children’s hospital and a dental college at Gujrat that he said would be made a “centre of excellence”.

He expressed satisfaction at the UoG performance for promoting the culture of education, particularly among the women whose enrollment at the varsity was 62 per cent. It was a great example of women empowerment, he added.

He pledged to provide Rs420 million for the construction of new girls hostels in the UoG, Rs150 million for nine new buses and a sum of Rs40 million to establish an information technology lab at the varsity.

Published in Dawn, january 7th, 2023