MULTAN, April 17: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Thursday granted Rs975 million to carry out development schemes in the district.

He also granted Rs75 million for the sewerage system and roads’ rehabilitation in the Multan Industrial Estate. However, its association had demanded Rs15 million for the purpose.

The CM met DCOs, DPOs, parliamentarians, PML-Q office-bearers and traders at the Circuit House.

He said the proposal to construct a new bridge over the river Chenab near Head Muhammadwala was being reviewed by the federal and provincial governments. He added the government had also taken up the matter of either expansion of the Multan airport or construction of a new one.

Almost all delegations expressed concern over the uncertain fate of the proposed Multan institute of cardiology.

Mr Elahi said the cardiology institute would be established either at the commissioner’s house or the irrigation offices situated on other side of the Abdali Road near the former commissioner’s house. He said the Civil Hospital would also be upgraded.

Later on, the chief minister laid the foundation stone of a new terminal at the local general bus stand that will be completed by the FWO at a cost of Rs85 million in two years. The project will be funded by the city tehsil municipal administration.

Speaking at a public meeting on the occasion, the chief minister granted Rs250 million as first instalment for the city’s sewerage system, Rs400 million for roads and Rs250 million for the institute of cardiology. He said the physical work on the institute would be started in the coming fiscal and the project would cost Rs1 billion.

He announced that the civil hospital would be upgraded to a 300-bed hospital. He promised that the provincial government would request the federal government to allocate Rs75 million for the uplift and upkeeping of the shrines in the city. He also hinted at declaring Multan as a tax-free zone.

Talking about the ongoing stand-off on the Legal Framework Order between the government and the opposition, Pervaiz Elahi said: “We do not care about what opposition thinks on the issue as we believe in delivering to the masses instead of just doing politicking.”

He said the government was laying a special emphasis on the agriculture sector, and had announced a number of relief measures for the farming community.

He said the government had been in consultation with Water and Power Development Authority to get some relief for farmers on electricity tariff.

The chief minister was flanked by State Minister Sikandar Bosan, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Shaukat Mazari, provincial ministers Tahir Javed, Arshad Lodhi and Rana Shamshad.

While speaking at a public meeting after inaugurating wheat harvesting at Naseerpur village, Shujaabad tehsil, about 50 kilometres from here, the CM said the commercial banks would be motivated to expand the scope of their leasing schemes of consumer products to agricultural implements.

He said the banks would he asked to provide tractors and farm implements to the growers.

The CM said the government had plenty of resources to procure every grain of wheat at the official price of Rs300 per 40kgs. The officials found guilty of irregularities in the wheat procurement campaign would be brought to book, he warned.

He said the Punjab government had set up 276 procurement centres in the province and, if required, more centres would be established. Mr Elahi added that he and his cabinet would monitor wheat procurement by raiding these centres frequently. Legislators and local bodies’ representatives would also monitor the drive to ensure fair price to the growers, he said.

He announced that the landholdings up to 12.5 acres would be exempted from agricultural tax. Besides, about 100,000 acres of agricultural land would be distributed among the landless tillers in a transparent manner.

The CM announced construction of the Jalalpur Pirwala-Aimewala bridge, development of the Kotli Nijabat high school and Neseerpur primary school and building for the Jalalpur high school.

Before coming to Lahore, the CM told a press conference that the PML-Q would definitely nominate its candidate for the Multan district Nazim’s slot, but first the Election Commission of Pakistan should announce date for the election.