LAHORE: Thanking the opposition for playing its democratic role in the discussion and approval of the provincial budget, fourth by the PTI government, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar announced a new administrative division of the provincial capital will be established shortly.

       Speaking in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday, he denied the impression that his government was ignoring Lahore. He said a sum of Rs86 billion had been earmarked for the provincial capital this year, other than the allocation made for the Orange Line train.

       He said River Ravi Urban Project would be a game changer in urban development, while the government had developed 600-bed Ganga Ram Mother & Child Hospital, besides Gulab Devi and Lal Shehbaz underpasses in the city. A new state-of-the-art bus terminal at Thokar Niaz Beg was also in the pipeline, he added.

       He said Lahore would be divided further on administrative grounds, and a decision in this regard would be made shortly to improve provision of civic amenities in the metropolis.

       He said the new budget was pro-masses, pro-farmers and pro-workers, and “the best in the [province’s] history”.

       Thanks opposition for budget approval

       He said for the first time the budget book for south Punjab was prepared separately and claimed that Punjab was the only federating unit achieving surplus tax revenue.

       He said 110 million people of the province would benefit from the Health Card scheme as it would cover the whole province by Dec 31.

       Talking about other health sector initiatives, he said a 1,000-bed hospital was being established in Lahore, while the Children’s Hospital was being granted the status of a university.

       He said his government recruited 32,000 doctors and paramedics to overcome the staff shortage in the health department so far, while the previous (PML-N) government had recruited just 18,000 in its five-year tenure.

       In the education sector, Mr Buzdar said, a number of new universities had been accorded charters against just seven by the previous government. Likewise, at least 186 state-run colleges were being given associate degree status, he added.

       He said the minimum wheat support price had been increased by Rs500, increasing it to Rs1,800 per 40kg, while it remained stagnant at Rs1,300 in the five years before the PTI took over reigns of the province. The farmers were also offered seed and fertiliser subsidies worth Rs4.0 billion, he added.

       He said the former rulers initiated mega projects like building the Orange Line train at a cost of Rs215bn, which was consuming Rs8bn per annum subsidy, ignoring the weak financial position of the province.

       The present government, he said, was building homes for the poor in 146 tehsils and developing 500 sports grounds in the province.

       Referring to the police department performance, the chief minister said the police had resolved all high-profile cases, while 13,000 new officials were being recruited in the department to further improve its working.

       He said a new initiative -- Rescue Heli-Cab -- would be introduced soon as funds for the purpose had been released.

       About the pro-workers steps, he said minimum wages of workers had been raised to Rs20,000, while Rs30bn had been allocated for Punjab Rozgar (employment) Scheme.

       Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2021