Punjab government plan to make poor the beggars

Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif during a meeting of provincial cabinet gave approval to the special programme of giving targeted subsidy to the poorest of the poor segments in the province. In the first phase, 13 lakh poor families will be given a monthly subsidy of one thousand rupees. The government will issue special Khidmat Cards to the resource-less persons on which the name and computerized ID card number of the recipient would be mentioned.

A meeting of provincial cabinet committee presided over by Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif was held in which Provincial Ministers Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, Bilal Yasin, Hameeda Waheed-ud-Din, Abdul Waheed Chaudhary, Assembly Members, Secretaries of Industry, Finance, Food, Information departments and other senior officers were present.

Addressing the meeting, Shahbaz Sharif said that Punjab government has decided to give direct targeted subsidy to the poorest of the poor families of the province to resolve their economic problems. He said that welfare and provision of relief to the deprived segments of the society is the top agenda of the government and all out resources will be provided for this purpose.

The Chief Minister directed that the programme for giving directed subsidy to the poorest families be implemented as soon as possible and institutional mechanism for implementation of the subsidy programme should be given a final shape. He said that Punjab government will issue its own debit cards for this purpose which will be valid for five years.

Shahbaz Sharif gave approval to the design of the Punjab Khidmat Card and directed to prepare these cards immediately. The Chief Minister directed to set up a committee to consider the proposal of setting up of Punjab Social Protection Authority for other social programmes for low-income people. The committee will present final recommendations for the establishment of Social Protection Authority. The committee would also submit proposals for bringing all programmes aimed at welfare of the poor people under the control of Social Protection Authority.