OKARA, Feb 20 Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced on Saturday proprietary rights for 5,300 tenants of the Renala Khurd military farms and Kulyana Estate.

Speaking to a large public gathering at a government high school, Gogera, about 25 kilometre away from the city, on the invitation of MPA Chaudhry Nadeem Abbas Rubera, he said “I was kept in exile but I stayed in touch with the national affairs, especially the excesses committed by the Rangers against the tenants of the military farms in Okara.”

He said former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi turned a blind eye to the grievances of the tenants. The present setup, he said, had solved the problems of the tenants through dialogues with the army high command.

He said a tenants' com-mittee, headed by Sardar Zulifqar Ali Khan Khosa and MPA Chaudhry Nadeem, played a vital role in this regard. He said the Punjab government would give funds to the tenants who were financially weak to help them build shelters.

He also promised special funds to the academic institutions of Gogera Town.

The chief minister then flew to MPA Mian Muhammad Moeen Wattoo's native town Jamalkot (Deepalpur) where he addressed a gathering and announced some projects.

Earlier, the chief minister paid homage to Hazrat Bahawal Sher Qalander (RA) at Hujra Shah Muqeem. At the Renala Khurd military farms, he presided over a meeting and was briefed on a livestock project worth Rs150 million.

An ISPR press release said the chief minister also visited the military dairy farms at Renala Khurd and Okara to see the work-ing of the Centre of Excellence for Bovine Genetics (CEBG), a project for embryo transfer and semen production.

The Planning Commission is funding the five-year project which is a joint venture of the Pakistan Army, the Remount Veterinary and Farms Corps, and the Ministry of Livestock and Dairy Development.

Maj-Gen Muhammad Ali Khan, the RV&FC director general, said the essence of the programme was to extend facilities to and educate the less educated farming community on modern lines.