LAHORE: The Punjab government has announced building 3,000 housing units for low-income people in every district of the province.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over a meeting in connection with “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” programme here on Tuesday.

“Under this programme, more than 3,000 housing units will be built for low-income people in every district of Punjab,” she said.

She called for a comprehensive plan to complete the construction of 100,000 houses, and directed to keep the down payment and monthly installments low. She also directed to construct these houses for low-income people near cities in order to make public transport within their reach.

AI TECHNOLOGY: “Artificial Intelligence technology should be used for effective enforcement and violation of traffic rules,” said CM Ms Nawaz while chairing a meeting on streamlining flow of traffic in Lahore.

The CM directed to immediately remove temporary encroachments from 31 places to carry out effective road engineering and designing on 82 locations, and to repair and rehabilitate roads on 28 places in Lahore in order to improve flow of traffic.

She also directed to install digital screens to display warning messages in case of traffic jam on roads.

CTO Amara Azhar gave a detailed briefing on traffic management programme. She briefed the chief minister that in the first phase, an e-challan service would be introduced using Safe City cameras for not wearing helmets on motorbikes and seat belts in vehicles.

In the second phase, e-challans would be started for monitoring violations of 24 traffic rules.

Ramazan package: The Punjab government says that a fool-proof system has been developed to ensure transparent distribution of the largest Ramazan relief package to the people, which will be launched on the 2nd of Ramazan.

“Distribution of big gifts to the people of Punjab on the occasion of Ramazan has commenced,” said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz while presiding over a meeting on transparent distribution and monitoring of relief packages under the Ramazan Nigahban Relief Programme here on Tuesday.

The meeting learned that distribution was being monitored with the help of a live dashboard and advanced technology. A helpline has also been set up in this regard.

“Beneficiaries will be able to register complaints through the helpline.”

The meeting was also informed that data of National Database and Registration Authority and Benazir Income Support Programme beneficiaries were being used for the distribution of the Ramazan relief package.

It was further briefed that the distribution of the Ramazan relief package would start from the second day of Ramazan and would continue until the 10th day of the fasting month.

“For the first time in the history of Punjab, the Ramazan package is being delivered to every deserving person’s home,” the chief minister said and added that high quality items would be included in the Ramazan package.

“I will not tolerate complaints about the quality of flour, ghee, sugar, and other food items.”

Moreover, under the Nigehban Ramazan package, 38,290 ration bags have been provided to deserving families at their doorsteps across the province while a transportation plan has been prepared for the distribution of 6.4 million ration bags, officials briefed the chief secretary on Tuesday.

Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman chaired a meeting at the Civil Secretariat to review the measures being taken to improve governance and monitor the package and prices of food items.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2024