LAHORE   -   Punjab Mines and Minerals Department (MMD) Secretary Babar Amman Babar Saturday reviewed the initiatives and achievements of the previous year. Around 1,500 officers and officials from attached depart­ments across the Punjab par­ticipated via video link. During the meeting, the new initiatives and achievements were consid­ered and important instructions were issued by the secretary to improve the performance of the department. Implementa­tion of the orders from Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Minister for MMD Ibrahim Hasan Murad and the Chief Secretary from time to time was also reviewed. The participants in the meeting were told that during the last year, forty important new initia­tives were taken and achieve­ments were made. The secretary said that the department had achieved best revenue collection targets during 2023, adding that the department collected 19 percent more revenue than its revenue target. This year, double revenue is being collected from the previous financial year, he said. Besides, a revenue plan of Rs150 billion has been made for the next three years. He pointed out that 13 billion dollars could be earned from value added ex­port of Himalayan pink rock salt in Punjab province alone. He said that strict measures had been taken against the theft of minerals on the instructions of the Chief Minister. In this re­gard, he continued, completely stopping the theft of gold parti­cles at Attock in the Indus River was a very difficult and historic task; credit goes to the govern­ment and the entire team. Babar Amman Babar said that 173 old cases pending with the Secre­tary MMD had been decided on merit and the new year started with zero pendency which was a record. Decisions in old pending cases have restored investors’ confidence, he added.