Lucrative posts not to be given to the officers facing Anti-Corruption inquiries

Lahore: Additional Chief Secretary Punjab Shumail Ahmad Khawaja has directed the S&GAD authorities not to give lucrative posts to those officers against whom Anti-Corruption inquiries are pending at the moment. This direction has been passed in accordance with the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif regarding zero tolerance policy against the corrupt government employees.

In another briefing regarding union councils based poverty reduction pilot project, the ACS Shamail Ahmad Khawaja was briefed by the relevant technical experts that the Punjab government is considering to launch a pilot project with an initial cost of five billion rupees for poorest of the poor families through social mobilization in rural areas of the province. Under this project, deprived sections of rural areas will be motivated to start successful agro-based businesses on small scale with joint collaboration with their fellow villagers at union council level. Technical consultancy along with preparation of investment plan will be provided free of cost in this regard.

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a special committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Punjab Shumail Ahmad Khawaja and comprising experts for considering in detail the pilot project proposed by a social leader Shoaib Sultan for poverty alleviation. The first meeting of the committee was held today at Civil Secretariat. The committee has been assigned the task of evolving best mechanism with regard to enhancing usefulness of proposed project at UC based poverty reduction.

This committee will also identify two such districts of the province for thrashing out UC based project which deserve more attention regarding socio-economic backwardness. The meeting was informed that all projects of poverty alleviation are working at tehsil level while proposed pilot project will provide technical consultation to poor people at union council level. Under proposed pilot project, proposal has been given for constitution of community based organization comprising 20 implementation tartner each in backward villages in 107 union councils.

These community organizations will jointly constitute village organizations while local support organizations will coordinate all affairs at union council level. According to this proposal, funds of 20 million rupees will be allocated for every union council. In the first phase of this project, 2.5 lakh rural families will be rid of poverty.

Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary Punjab Shamail Ahmad Khawaja presided over 13^th meeting of Provincial Selection Board-2 at Civil Secretariat, today in which decision was taken to promote 450 Assistant Professors of public sector colleges from grade 18 to 19 as Associate Professors.