Amraiz Khan
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has expressed displeasure over unchecked price hike and said that rates of essential items should be reduced.
He was presiding over the meeting of provincial taskforce on price control at his office. The chief minister directed to take strict legal action against the elements involved in price hike and made it clear that lip-service will not work anymore. Giving relief to the masses is our joint responsibility; he added and further said that every step should be taken to stabilize the rates of vegetables. The chief minister said that price hike is the issue of the common man; steps should be taken to give immediate relief to the people and implementation on price control mechanism should be ensured, as well. Everything is possible if one’s intention is good and why price hike is not controlled, he enquired.
The chief minister announced that he will personally check the rates of different commodities and asked the officers to go to the field and monitor the auction process in grain markets in the morning so as to ensure price control. He also enquired the rates of different items from Commissioners through the video link.
He expressed displeasure over failure in complete control over price hike and directed to take immediate steps in the right direction. Provincial ministers Mian Aslam Iqbal, Samiullah Chaudhry, administrative secretaries and others attended the meeting while Commissioners and DCs participated through the video link.
A delegation led by Lord Mayor of Manchester City Abid Latif Chohan called on Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office and discussed matters of mutual interest. Talking on the occasion, the chief minister said that Pakistan-UK relations span over many decades and Pakistan gives importance to these relations. A large number of Pakistanis are living in the UK to play an important role in improving the lateral relations. He said that Overseas Pakistanis Commission, Punjab is proactively working to solve the problems of expatriate Pakistanis. Usman Buzdar maintained that further expansion of relations between Punjab and the UK is the need of the hour adding that conducive environment has been provided to investors in Punjab province.
He said that conspicuous results have been achieved in healthcare, education and skills development sectors in collaboration with the DFID and Punjab values this cooperation. The government believes in taking practical measures to provide relief to the people and conducive environment is provided for investment. He added that investment on human development is the best investment for bright future of the country and added that a culture of transparency has been promoted in the province. Abid Latif Chohan said that bilateral relations between Pakistan and the UK are very good and joint work will be done for boosting investment in the Punjab province. Councilors Lutf Ur Rehman and Basit Sheikh, Chairman Pakistan Community Centre Manchester Haroon Afzal Khatana, Rana Abdul Sattar, Abdul Qayyum, Ataul Mustafa Chohan, Ch. Anwar Yaqoob, Qazi Mubeen and others were included in the delegation. Provincial law minister Raja Basharat, Chairman PBIT Sardar Tanvir Ilyas, VC OPC Punjab Ch. Waseem Akhtar and others were also present on this occasion.
