LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over a high-level meeting Sunday which reviewed overall law and order situation in the province and security measures for educational institutions.
The chief minister while addressing the meeting said that no compromise would be made on security of private and public sector educational institutions. He said that departments and institutions concerned should play an active role for the implementation of the security plan devised for this purpose.
Shahbaz Sharif while directing to further improve security of private and government sector educational institutions, said that all out measures should be adopted for the protection of life and property of citizens and effective monitoring of security arrangements evolved for private and public sector schools, colleges and universities should be continued.
He directed that Provincial Ministers and secretaries should continue to monitor implementation of the security plan for educational institutions. Similarly, he said, divisional commissioners, RPOs, CPOs, DCOs and DPOs should regularly review security arrangements of private and government educational institutions.
He said that strict implementation of the security plan should be ensured and the departments and institutions concerned should perform their duties with effective coordination while third party audit of security measures should be conducted on regular basis as no laxity or negligence is tolerable in the present situation.
The chief minister further directed that Cabinet Committee on Law & Order should continue to review security arrangements for the protection of life and property of masses and the safety of private and public sector educational institutions and implementation of the decisions in this regard should be ensured.
The meeting was given a briefing on the overall law and order situation and steps taken with regard to the security of educational institutions. Provincial Minister for Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed, Member Punjab Assembly Jehangir Khanzada, Special Assistant Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal, Inspector General Police, concerned secretaries and senior officers of law enforcement agencies attended the meeting while Divisional Commissioners, RPOs, DCOs, CPOs and DPOs participated in the meeting from their respective divisions and districts through video link.
Meanwhile, a brilliant student, Zulqarnain, belonging to Haider Khel area of Tehsil Mir Ali of North Waziristan met Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The chief minister on this occasion announced that Punjab government will bear all educational expenditures of Zulqarnain on MBBS and all out help will be extended to him.
He said that talented students like Zulqarnain are the asset of the country and the whole nation is proud of them. He said that maximum resources will be made available for the education of talented and deserving students as provision of funds for this purpose is useful investment in the future of the country. He said that Punjab government is bearing the expenditures on the higher education of talented and deserving students not only of Punjab but also of other provinces.
Shahbaz Sharif said that in spite of the fact that Zulqarnain belongs to a far-flung area of North Waziristan and has limited resources yet he has achieved a prominent status due to his hard work and commitment which proves that talented youths of the nation have the ability to change the course of history.
He said that intelligent and hard working students like Zulqarnain are a hope for the nation and Punjab government is spending maximum resources on such students. He said that the aim of transforming the country in accordance with the vision of Quaid and Iqbal can be achieved only through imparting proper education to students like Zulqarnain.
The chief minister said that he is happy that Zulqarnain who belongs to North Waziristan has achieved success due to his hard work and prayers of his parents and is doing MBBS at Aga Khan Medical University.
The chief minister also gave a cheque to Zulqarnain for meeting his educational expenditure. The student expressed gratitude to the chief minister for bearing his educational expenses and commended his efforts for the higher education of deserving and talented students.
Federal Minister for Planning & Development Ahsan Iqbal was also present on the occasion.