LAHORE, July 11: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Monday directed the provincial and district administration to ensure fair and free local bodies elections. Mr Elahi ordered district and police officers at a meeting that they should ensure that mosques and other places of worship were not used for political purposes, nor any display of arms became norm during the election campaign. He said all parties should follow election rules and there should be no exceptions. No party “can take out processions nor do any kind of wall-chalking.”

About flood victims, he said they should be provided meals and clean drinking water and their livestock should be given fodder till they return to their homes. The government would provide necessary funds for this purpose, he assured.

The district administration should involve in rehabilitation work, not as a perfunctory job but as moral and religious duty. Any slackness in this regard would attract exemplary punishment and the government would not tolerate sluggishness in this regard, he warned.

He said controlling of kidnap for ransom should be the first priority of police.

“The district set-ups should create special cells to eliminate crime. Any one found protecting criminals should also be booked under the same offence and no one, without any exception, should be spared. The officers should monitor police stations instead of sitting in their offices.”

About sectarianism, he told the participants to strictly check publication of any sectarian material. All those involved in production, writing and selling of such material should be held equally responsible and dealt with accordingly.