CM promises Rs300m annual grant for auqaf dept

LAHORE:Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi visited the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies on Sunday. He visited various sections and inspected the library, auditorium and other offices.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that he had laid the foundation of Seerat Academy and the Quran Complex on 3 June, 2006 and inaugurated the Seerat Academy and the Quran Complex on 18 November 2007. He regretted that Shehbaz Sharif along with his other projects also halted this project and made the Seerat Academy non-functional. We had set up the Seerat Academy to promote the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) but unfortunately the PMLN government politicised this important project. He directed to display Quranic verses in the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies and ordered to upgrade and digitise the library and said that MPhil and PhD classes would be started in the Academy with the collaboration of Madina University, Jamia Al-Azhar and other distinguished universities of the Islamic world. Hostels will be constructed for the research scholars. He said that a Quran Museum would be set up in the institution where the precious and rare scripts of the Quran would be placed.

Pervaiz Elahi announced granting 15% and 25% special allowance for the officials of Auqaf Department and upgrading the posts of DG religious affairs, Khateeb and Moazan. He said that scale of Moazan 4, 5 will be upgraded to 7 the grade of Naib Khateeb, Madris 6, 7 will be upgraded to 12 whereas the grade of Khateeb Imam 09 will be upgraded to 14 and the scale of Senior Khateeb 12 will be upgraded to 16. Similarly, the scale of District Khateeb 16 will be upgraded to 17, the scale of Zonal Khateeb 17 will be upgraded to 18 and the scale of Provincial Khateeb 18 will be upgraded to 19 whereas the scale of DG Religious Affairs 20 will be upgraded to 21. He stated that the Punjab government would give Rs300 million annual grant to the Auqaf and Religious Affairs department and Rs50 million would be increased in this grant every year. We will make such a law that no one will be able to stop these funds. The opponents will not be able to stop our decisions constitutionally and legally.

The CM said that Seerat Academy is the minaret of enlightenment but Shehbaz Sharif had locked it. He regretted that Shehbaz Sharif closed all our good works, including IT Tower and locked them.

He said that the federal government had to give Rs170 billion in different heads, including net hydel profit to the Punjab government. The Punjab government is giving subsidy of Rs3.5 billion to the farmers, adding that by not timely increasing the price of Panadol caused its shortage and the federal government is responsible which did not make a decision. He said investigations on the Nishtar Hospital incident were going on and soon action would be taken and those found responsible would be punished. He said that he also directed the IG to probe into incident from every aspect and submit a report. He said that action would be taken against those found responsible for committing negligence in the death incident of infant in Mayo Hospital. We are doing legislation to stop the usage and selling of narcotics in educational institutions and will make a separate department of Anti-Narcotics. We will also make an ANF in which the retired Army commandos will be inducted.

WORLD FOOD DAY: The chief minister said that to enhance the production of food and ensuring food security was the first and foremost priority of the government. Nutritious diet is the fundamental need and right of every human being and a close collaboration between the government and a practical sector is essential in order to ensure food protection.

In his message on World Food Day on Sunday, he urged to stop the wastage of food to mitigate the possibility of food scarcity, adding that it was essential to impart vigorous awareness to the common man in this regard.

He said owing to coronavirus, infectious diseases, climate changes, violent disputes and other confronting challenges had increased the problems of food shortage for lacs of people. The shortage of food production and its distribution challenge is aggravating this problem. The food distribution mechanism faced a severe loss due to floods in Pakistan which increased the pressure on the prices of edible items. The CM stated that the aim to celebrate World Food Day was to escalate efforts to resolve the problems occurring due to food scarcity.