MULTAN - Punjab Chief Secretary Naveed Akram Cheema disclosed on Thursday that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif will kick off Punjab Khidmat Card scheme under which each poor family will be granted Rs500 every month.
Chairing a meeting held here to review different development project, he added that Rs33 billion was allocated for the programme and this programme would be completed in two phases. He told the meeting that 185,776 women from poor and deserving families would be issued these cards in Multan division. He said that in first phase the beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Programme would be issued cards while other poor families would be taken on board in next phase. He said that the poor families would be given ATM cards to draw their money from bank machines.
He further revealed that the students belonging to poor families with over 70 per cent attendance would be given an additional Rs250 per month. He said that the DCOs of all districts would be responsible for getting the cards issued to the deserving citizens.
Referring to health sector, he said that soon health insurance policy would be introduced in Punjab. He directed the health officials to ensure proper treatment to the patients of Swine Flu. He said that polio was an international issue and therefore the polio campaign should be made ideally successful.
He directed the DCOs to expedite pace of work on development projects and accomplish at least 90 per cent work on all ongoing projects. He warned that officers exhibiting negligence or laziness would not be tolerated. He expressed dissatisfaction on the speed of work in Multan division and issued order for increase in the pace. He directed concerned officials to ensure permanent monitoring of price control staff.