LAHORE: The Punjab cabinet’s second meeting on Monday expressed complete solidarity with the flood victims and announced giving them one month’s salary. The chief minister also reserved his helicopter for flood relief activities.

The cabinet’s meeting, chaired by Chaudhry Parvez Elahi decided to meet the needs of other flood-affected provinces and the cabinet decided to dispatch medicines and medical staff to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

The meeting endorsed the decision to declare flood-affected areas of Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Mianwali as calamity-stricken and offered prayers for the departed souls. It also extended sympathies to the bereaved heirs.

The chief minister directed officials to speed up the relief activities in a systematic manner and said that tents, food hampers and other equipment be provided in the affected areas as needed. The government would also redress the damages to houses, crops and livestock and every rightful person be given his right.

The cabinet approved the release of special funds of Rs4 billion for the rehabilitation of the damages to the irrigation infrastructure caused by rains and floods. It was decided to hand over the auction process of state lands in DG Khan district to the cabinet standing committee for privatization and the committee would give its final recommendations after considering all the issues.

The cabinet agreed upon health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid’s suggestion to call NGOs meeting to apprise them where they should work in flood-affected areas to avoid duplication. The meeting will be held in a day or two.

The cabinet approved naming Nicholson Road after the late politician Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan. It was decided to entrust the matter of staff of phase two of the PSDP/ADP funded programme for water courses to the committee. Extension of the post of president LDA Tribunal Mansoor Ahmad Khan was also approved.

The Punjab cabinet approved the formation of a new search committee for the appointment of vice-chancellors of public sector universities. The committee’s convener is Shafqat Mahmood.

The appointment of the chairperson and judicial members of the Punjab Revenue Authority’s appellate tribunal and the annual calendar of the 5th parliamentary year 2022-23 of the Punjab assembly were approved. The cabinet approved the annual report of the Punjab Public Service Commission for the year 2021. In the meeting, the annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman Punjab for 2021 was also approved.

The reconstitution of the cabinet standing committees formed in the first meeting of the cabinet was approved as well. The decisions of the first meeting of the cabinet were confirmed. A briefing was given about the loss of life and property caused by the floods and relief activities. The provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, chief secretary and senior officials attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2022