First 100 days: Major headway in Punjab to meet Naya Pakistan agenda

LAHORE: From concrete steps towards creation of South Punjab province to formulation of maiden industrial, tourism, agriculture, labour and water policies within first 100 days, the Punjab government has set a pace to achieve the destination of Naya Pakistan.The gigantic steps including the retrieval of around 100,000 acres of government land from illegal occupation, plantation of 12.23 million saplings and collection and disposal of 615,625 tons of waste manifested the Punjab government’s resolve to meet the high hopes of the people they had pinned before voting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf into government.According to a presentation given to Prime Minister Imran Khan during his day-long visit to Lahore to attend a ceremony to mark the first 100 days of the provincial government, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar-led provincial government was in process of expanding health insurance cards to all 36 districts.According to details, the executive committee had been constituted for creation of South Punjab province.An administrative structure had been prepared and an empowered secretariat in South Punjab would become functional by July 2019. Moreover, the consultative meetings to evolve consensus on the creation of South Punjab province were also underway.To revamp the local government system, a two-tier structure comprising Tehsil and village tiers in rural while Metropolitan/Municipal Corporation/Committees as upper and neighborhood councils as lower tiers in urban areas would be introduced.Around 30 percent of the ADP has been allocated to revamp local government system.Moreover, the government was also in the process of revamping the Punjab Police Act.The provincial government was striving to create jobs for youth and revive manufacturing and facilitating the growth of SME.The steps included the establishment of Punjab Skills Development Authority, approval of Punjab Skills Advisory Forum and plan to set up four technical and technological universities.Having approved the Industrial Policy 2018, the Punjab government had drawn foreign direct investment worth $ 350 million.Three SME schemes of Rs. 11.5 billion were also in progress.The approval of Punjab Labour Policy 2018, Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2018 and Punjab Occupational Safety and Health Act 2018 were the measures taken by the provincial government for laborer’s welfare.A child labor awareness campaign has been launched across the province.Besides the steps for creating ease of doing business, the government had identified 53,581 kanals of land to materialize the government’s plan of five million houses.In order to boost tourism industry, the Punjab government had launched first ever Punjab Tourism Policy and identified 11 potential tourist destinations and launched agri-tourism fruit festivals.The provincial cabinet was formulating laws to expand agricultural produced markets and provided interest free loans to 57,500 farmers worth Rs 2.8 billion during current Rabi Season 2018-19.First ever Punjab Water Policy has been drafted and a Provincial Master Plan focusing on water conservation has been developed.According to the presentation, the government had implemented uniform diagnostic rates across all government hospitals, hired 2,834 nurses, 3,620 medical officers and 2,746 women medical officers besides planning to build five Mother and Child Healthcare Hospitals in Attock, Rajanpur, Bahawalnagar, Mianwali and Layyah.Mentioning a Five Year Education Strategy, the document reveals the launch of School Health and Nutrition Program in two model schools that would be scaled up to 1700 schools.The government would launch a provincial University Sports League in January 2019 and had formed search committees to make all top level appointments in higher education department.Among the steps by Women Development Department in 100 days included the Establishment of Punjab Women Hostels Regulatory Authority, direct subsidy to low income working women, expansion of Punjab Day Care Fund and launch of Gender Champions Advocacy Campaign.During 100 days, the Punjab Forest department had finalized a Five Year Mass Afforestation Programme under which over 464 million saplings would be planted in five years, at a cost of Rs 31 billion.The department planted 1.9 million saplings against target of 1.6 million while another 19.72 million saplings would be for plantation in March 2019.The provincial government is in process of finalizing The Livestock Policy 2018 and Punjab Animal Health act 2018.In its efforts to provide clean drinking water to the people, the government would form Drinking Water Authority and had allocated Rs.12 billion for water supply, clean drinking water and sanitation facilities in rural areas in the current Annual Development Programme (ADP).The Chief Minister’s Complaint Center currently catering to health, school education, DC offices and the Police departments, had received 8,480 complaints of those 4,162 had been resolved.Among the provincial landmark projects included the construction of shelter houses named as Panah Gahs for down-and-out people.Currently, five such shelter homes were under construction in Lahore, one each in Rawalpindi and DG Khan.In order to address a deteriorating issue of smog in the province, the Environment Protection Department had converted 102 brick kilns to the zig-zag technology reducing the emissions by 75 percent.The department plans to convert all brick kilns by 2020. Resultantly, the air quality index was reduced from 375 to 200 within 100 days.Among other steps taken by the provincial government in first 100 days, included the vetting of 15 laws on varying subjects, campaign against electricity theft, upgradation of 14,000 kilometers of the Farm to Market roads and a plan for a ‘Mega Sports Initiative’ to focus on the construction of playgrounds, organize Punjab level games.