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SADIQABAD, April 29: The government will spend Rs1 billion on various development projects in the district, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi pledged on Tuesday.
Inaugurating a National Database and Registration Authority van service at the Jamaldin Wali High School, he said the welfare grant wouldbe spent on construction of roads, education, health care and electrification of far-flung areas.
He said the decision to waive agriculture income tax on 12.5 acres would be implemented from July after the announcement of the budget. The growers were bound to pay agriculture tax on a minimum holding of five acres, he added.
To a question about the ongoing water supply project, the chief minister said he would inaugurate it in May.
Meanwhile, Nadra (Multan region) Director-General Brig Pervaiz Aziz (retired) said the van service would speed up the issuance of the computerized identity cards. The service was expected to be started in July this year, he said.
The chief minister, while responding to a question, said the manually prepared NICs would be used in case of emergency. He, however, said tendering of forms for the computerized NICs was a precondition for the issuance of the manual identity cards.
BAHAWALPUR: The chief minister has announced an over Rs2 billion uplift package for Bahawalpur region and granted Bahawalpur city the ‘big city’ status.
Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, the chief minister said the uplift package would be utilized for the construction of roads, village electrification, gas and water supply and education.
He also announced a special grant of Rs100 million for the development of Cholistan.
The chief minister said the government was giving priority to the education sector and an allocation of Rs6 billion would be made for this sector in the next budget.
Answering a question about taxation-free budget, he said the government was working for providing maximum relief to the people. He said the boards of governors in autonomous hospitals would be replaced by boards of management.
Earlier, he was briefed about the problems of Bahawalpur by district Nazim Tariq Cheema and other officers.
The chief minister also met delegations of MNAs and MPAs who apprised him of the problems of their respective constituencies.
Later, addressing PML-Q workers at the Circuit House, the chief minister said he had directed the local administration not to harass them and instead oblige them in their genuine problems.
