LAHORE: The Punjab cabinet on Friday accorded approval to the underground mass transit system for Lahore and to incorporating underground blue and purple line mass transit projects in the Annual Development Programme.

Presiding over the sixth cabinet meeting at his office, Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his cabinet colleagues offered special prayers for the martyrs of the Army Public School Peshawar attack on their eighth anniversary and paid rich tributes to their sacrifice.

Approval was also accorded to a 50 per cent decrease in the unit rates of ownership rights for landless farmers in Cholistan. These farmers and agriculture in general will greatly benefit from this step of the Punjab government. Approval was also granted to exempt ambassadors and consulates from value-added tax collection.

On the occasion, the CM stated that he did not want to ruin Lahore and introduce an underground train system. Blue Line, Purple Line and mass transit projects would be launched with the cooperation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), adding this project would be built on build-operate-transfer basis and not a single penny of the Punjab government would be spent on it.

The underground mass transit system would be built from Valencia Town to Kalma Chowk, Liberty Chowk, Data Darbar up to the airport. Eight big stations of the Orange Line train would also be developed. The cabinet also granted approval for the Planning and Development Board and the transport department to hold negotiations with the ADB for getting technical assistance and financing.

A principled decision was also taken to induct teachers on 600 vacant posts to fulfil a shortage in colleges. The cabinet also accorded approval to lift the ban on inductions into the Government College University, Faisalabad.

Approval was also accorded to provide cancer treatment facilities at the Children’s Hospital Lahore along with hospitals of Faisalabad and Gujrat, besides introducing the latest cyber knife technology and linear accelerator for cancer treatment in the hospitals of Gujrat and Faisalabad and Lahore’s Children Hospital.

The chief minister apprised the meeting that a cardiology hospital would be established in Sargodha and the number of beds in the Faisalabad cardiology hospital would be increased. The cabinet also accorded approval to establish Wohwa tehsil in the new Taunsa district and construct a 207-kilometre road from Chichawatni, Pir Mahal, Chowk Azam, Layyah up to Taunsa.

Approval was accorded to grant administrative and financial autonomy to Aitchison and Lawrence colleges under the Punjab Educational Institutional (Reconstitution) Act 2021.

Senior Provincial Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, other provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, the chief secretary, principal secretary to the chief minister and senior officials attended the meeting. Provincial ministers Raja Basharat, Hashim Dogar, Dr Akhtar Malik attended via video link.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2022