BAHAWALPUR: Governor Baleeghur Rehman took notice of the complaints about the non-functional dialysis machines at the government hospitals of the Bahawalpur division and sought a comprehensive report on the issue from the authorities within two days.

He gave the order while presiding over a meeting of the south Punjab’s 17 administrative secretaries of the government departments at the South Punjab Bahawalpur Secretariat on Tuesday.

According to an official handout, South Punjab Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Saqib Zafar briefed the governor on the functioning and performance of the South Punjab Bahawalpur Secretariat.

Expressing his satisfaction with the south Punjab secretariat’s performance and the pace of development, the governor said the ongoing progress in the execution of uplift projects in the south Punjab might also be accelerated with a view to serve the people of the region.

In his briefing, Mr Zafar informed the governor that the south Punjab administration had undertaken a number of uplift projects in different sectors. He added that in the next year’s budget, the South Punjab would get more fiscal autonomy and more financial powers would be delegated to the administrative secretaries in the region. This would help them (secretaries) transfer budgetary allocations to their respective subordinate sectors and branches, he said and added that all south Punjab administrative secretaries had prepared the paperwork in this respect.

The governor issued orders to complete the under-construction link road from Bahawalpur to M-5 (Sukkur-Multan) by June 30. He told the meeting that he would himself take up the issue of funds shortage for this project with the Punjab government.

The governor directed the irrigation secretary south Punjab to take measures to supply the irrigation water up to the tail-end farmers in the Bahawalpur division and remedy of the choked sewerage in the Bahawalpur city. He lauded the performance of the Bahawalpur Waste Management Company (BWMC) to keep the city clean and assured his support to make the company an effective public service institution.

BANK SCAM: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) unearthed a fraud of over Rs35m in the Khan Bela branch (district Rahim Yar Khan) of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTB) and arrested five bank employees.

According to FIA officials carried out an inquiry and detected the embezzlement.

The FIA registered a case and arrested five bank employees, including Ibrarul Hussain, Muhammad Shoaib, Khawaja Sajid Abbas, Muhammad Shahid, and Khalil Ahmed.

The FIA also seized relevant records of the branch.

BUSTED: The Lodhran City police claimed to have unearthed a robbers’ gang and recovered 16 stolen/snatched motorcycles worth Rs1.5m along with cash and valuables from its member.

The arrested members of the gang included its ring leader Nauman alias Nomi.

DSP Saddar Lodhran told a press conference that the arrested suspects, including Umar Farooq and Irshad, were booked in 15 cases while the investigation against them was going as more recoveries were expected from their possession. He said the gang members were expert at unlocking the motorcycles from the parking areas.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2023