LAHORE, June 19: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday met Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and discussed with him the law and order, budget, development projects, party matters and the forthcoming local elections.

The chief minister briefed the prime minister on development projects and the preparations made for the local polls. He congratulated the PM for achieving a 8.4 per cent growth rate and presenting a people-friendly budget.

The prime minister, according to a press release, appreciated Punjab’s pace of progress and asked the provincial chief to ensure fair and free local polls.

He said a huge amount had been kept for Khushhaal Pakistan for improving the infrastructure, roads, gas and electricity supply, so that quality of life of people could be improved.

The federal government was working with the Punjab government to accelerate the pace of development and provide all possible basic amenities to people, he said.

The prime minister said his government was conscious of improving the health standards and would soon launch a plan to establish filter plants in the country at a cost of Rs2.5 billion.

PML president Shujaat Husain also attended the meeting.

CRIMINALS: The chief minister said protection of life and property was priority of the government.

Talking to police officers from Rajanpur, he said the government would also move against the people harbouring criminals because such elements were as bad for society as criminals.

He directed the police officers to thoroughly investigate the kidnap-for-ransom cases so that the perpetrators of such crimes could be exposed and awarded exemplary punishment.

The chief minister also announced cash awards for the officers showing exceptional performance in controlling crime in the area.

Meanwhile, the minister for CM’s Inspection Team claimed that Pervaiz Elahi had directed all departments to start one-window operation at tehsil and district levels to ensure a solution to people’s problems. The inspection team would monitor the operations and submit a report to the chief minister.

Ten monitoring teams would also be constituted to monitor the operations, especially those of agriculture, irrigation, education, health and livestock departments. He said the chief minister had warned of a strict disciplinary action for any slackness in this regard.