Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office to review the progress on jail reforms and approved to celebrate Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Week in jails. The CM will announce a prison package for jail officials and prisoners on the occasion of Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Week.
The meeting decided in principle to approve the phase-wise filling of vacant posts in jails and the CM directed to devise a foolproof mechanism for the provision of quality items for prisoners at canteens at fixed rates.
The participants agreed in principle to allow prisoners to bring cushions, quilts etc from homes. The meeting was told that the installation of dish antennas/cable facility had been started in prisoners’ barracks on the direction of CM Punjab.
The CM reiterated that protection of prisoners’ rights would be ensured and no one would be allowed any exploitation.
The provision of payments to prisoners working in jails be ensured, he said and directed to overcome the shortage of doctors, paramedics and medicines in jail hospitals for providing the best treatment facilities to the inmates.
The ambulance service be started to shift prisoners to hospitals in case of emergency and work be started on projects to shift jails on solar energy, he added.
ACS(Home), PS to CM, IG Jail and others attended the meeting.
Earlier on Monday, Buzdar strongly condemned the blowing up of Quaid-e-Azam’s statue in Gwadar. The CM termed the incident an attack on the ideology of Pakistan and said: “The act aimed at extending harm to the solidarity of Pakistan, and every Pakistani is sad about the incident.”
The CM said those involved in the incident were liable to be punished strongly. “The nation owes to the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah for everything.”
Earlier, Punjab CM presided over a meeting to review the situation of dengue across Punjab. The meeting reviewed proposals and recommendations for prevention of dengue.
The chief minister directed the officers concerned to make dengue control measures more effective and also instructed them to monitor the performance of dengue control officials. The chief minister said that no negligence on the part of officials would be tolerated, adding that there was a need to make surveillance teams’ performance more effective.
Usman Buzdar warned that any misreport regarding dengue would lead to stern action. He further said that there was a need to create awareness among the masses about the harmful effects of unnecessary fumigation. The CM said that corona and dengue were two big challenges, adding that all the departments had to discharge their responsibilities for prevention of both of the challenges.
