GUJRANWALA, July 6: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has constituted an industrial authority and set aside Rs10 million for the promotion of the small industry.

Speaking at the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Sunday, the chief minister said that scores of uplift projects costing Rs30 billion were being taken in hand in the province.

He said the government wanted to put the country on the road to progress and prosperity after boosting the national economy.

GCCI president Khawaja Tahir Hassan and other office bearers apprised him of the problems faced by industrialists and manufacturers.

The chief minister started his visit by inaugurating nine-kilometre-long service road along the GT Road. The chief minister was informed that 94 per cent work on this project had been completed with an expenditure of Rs72.51 million.

He also inaugurated work on Trauma Centre at the local DHQ Hospital. EDO (health) Dr Zafar Ali informed the chief minister that Rs19 million would be spent on this project. He said that facilities like CT scan, ultrasound, X-ray, ECG, laboratory and blood bank would be available at the trauma centre.

He also laid the foundation stone of an underpass in Peoples Colony which would be built at a cost of Rs40 million.

Later, the chief minister also laid the foundation stone of Home Economics College. Briefing the chief minister, Punjab Education Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari said the project would be completed with a sum of Rs54 million in 18 months.

The chief minister also held meetings with delegations of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), lawyers, farmers, traders, social leaders and elites of the city and assured them that their problems would be resolved.

PACKAGE: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi announced a development package worth Rs1 billion for the uplift of Gujranwala.

He was speaking at a public meeting arranged by the PML(Q) at Liaquat Bagh here on Sunday night.

Elaborating the package, the chief minister said that a two-way GT Road would be constructed besides setting up Home Economics College and Girls Degree College in Nowshera Virkan. He also announced the establishment of a medical college and the construction of a stadium in Kamoke.

OPPOSED: Teachers and students of the Government Islamia College have strongly opposed a district government plan to build the home economics college for women on a piece of land earmarked for their college.

Speaking at a meeting on the college premises on Sunday, they said former education minister barrister Usman Ibrahim had transferred 74 kanals of land to the Government Islamia College for its proposed extension.

They said the college administration had already foiled the attempt of a ‘Qabza group’ to occupy the land after a local court decided in favour of the college.

They threatened to go on strike if the district government went ahead with its plan.

cheques: The provincial Food Minister Chaudhry Iqbal distributed cheques of Rs5 million among 129 destitute in a ceremony at Theri Sansi here on Sunday.

The minister assured them that the government would provide every possible financial support to stand them on their feet. He urged the destitute persons to start business on small scale to feed their families as the government wanted to eliminate poverty and unemployment in the country.

The government, he said, was establishing a home economics college for women in the city where the destitute girls would be given admission on priority basis.

Speaking on the occasion, District Zakat Committee chairman Muhammad Ahsan said that the destitute persons were also being provided financial help from zakat funds.

THREE KILLED: Three people, including a minor girl, were killed while a dozen others received injuries in different road accidents in and around the city here on Sunday.

Tasnim was playing in front of her house along the Sheikhupura Road when a speeding coaster crushed her. She died on the spot.

Ghulam Hussain of Ghumanwala died instantly while a dozen bus passengers sustained injuries when it rammed into a roadside tree.

A passerby, Naeem, was knocked down and killed by a speeding pick-up on the Hafizabad Road. He was crossing the road.