Punjab Development News : 22 model villages for flood-hit completed: CM

[Salman]

Punjab Development News : 22 model villages for flood-hit completed: CM

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif said that the government has honoured the promise of rehabilitation of the flood-affected people through the construction of 22 model villages equipped with modern facilities.

He said that the construction of model villages would usher in a new culture in backward and far-flung areas by bringing about a visible change in their lifestyle. He said that an amount of Rs 1 billion 55 crore was spent on the construction of the model villages, the money being provided by philanthropists. The CM said he was thankful to them as without their cooperation, the government would not have been able to provide shelter in a record period of time to those who had lost their homes and possessions in the floods.

He said this while talking to the Punjab Assembly members of various districts, on Wednesday, who informed the CM about the pace of the ongoing public-welfare projects and the problems being faced by the people in their respective areas.

Shahbaz said that the Punjab government was utilising all available resources for the welfare and betterment of the people and special attention was being paid to provide basic amenities to the masses.

He said that the citizens suffered from the worst flood in the history of the country last year, causing large-scale devastation, especially in Punjab, due to which a number of villages were wiped out and loss of billions of rupees was suffered.

He said that the government spared no effort in providing help and assistance to the flood-affected people, adding that the construction of 22 model villages under the rehabilitation programme had been completed, the houses being given to the people through transparent balloting. He added that potable water, schools, dispensaries, solar energy, biogas, health centres, veterinary dispensaries, cemented streets, livestock sheds, and other facilities had been provided in these villages.

The CM said that the Punjab government had provided shelter to the poor people, workers, peasants and helpless persons by initiating the Ashiana Housing Scheme, adding that the work on Ashiana-II scheme would soon be started in the city.

He said that in addition to Lahore, work on Ashiana Housing Schemes in Jhelum, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi and Sargodha was also in progress while land had been identified for these schemes in 17 other districts.

He added that the completion of Ashiana Housing Schemes would result in provision of shelter to thousands of shelter-less people. He said that timely completion of development projects and transparent utilisation of every penny of the public money was being assured. He called upon elected representatives to maintain a close contact with the people and assure timely and transparent completion of development projects in their respective areas. MPAs who met the CM included Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, Hafiz Mian Nauman, Tanvir Aslam Malik and Engineer Qamarul Islam Raja. staff report