Caretaker cabinet decides to relax police recruitment rules for kin of martyrs

LAHORE:
The caretaker cabinet of Punjab pledged on Saturday to ensure transparent, fair, independent and peaceful elections.

Presiding over the first provincial cabinet meeting, Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi emphasised that the basic responsibility of the caretaker government was to hold transparent and fair elections. The government would ensure holding of the general elections in a transparent and fair manner in the light of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) directions, he added.

He also expressed his desire to undertake public welfare work that could provide relief to the people.

The cabinet members, following the example of the caretaker CM, announced that they would not take salary and use official residences.

The caretaker cabinet approved the allocation of Rs1 billion to provide financial assistance of rs3.5 million each to the families of police martyrs.

According to an official announcement, the families of officials who had laid down their lives during the past one and a half years had not been provided financial assistance.

It was decided that the departmental rules would be eased to induct children of martyrs into the police, including relaxation in height and chest measurements. Monthly financial assistance for the widows of police personnel was enhanced Rs25,000 from Rs2,500.

Then cabinet decided that the inspector general and other senior police officers would hold open kutcheries for promptly redressing public grievances. The caretaker CM called for planning to provide maximum relief to the people during Ramazan. Preparation of the Ramazan package should be started immediately, he added.

He directed all ministers to visit other cities to review availability of subsidised flour in the markets. He ordered an indiscriminate crackdown against land grabbers and the use of narcotics in the educational institutions.

Approval was granted during the meeting to reconstitute the cabinet standing committees for finance and development, legal affairs, privatisation and law and order.

The caretaker cabinet accorded formal approval for the appointment of Dr Usman Anwar as the Inspector General of Police.

The cabinet was given a briefing on the law and order situation in the province and a crackdown against criminal elements.

It was also given a briefing about the wheat reserves and needs in the province.

It was apprised that the Punjab government had 1.48 metric tonnes of wheat available, while 250,000 metric tonnes was being procured from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO). A 10kg wheat bag is available for Rs648 and flour mills are being provided 26,000 tonnes of wheat daily.

The chief secretary briefed the cabinet about government affairs, duties and performance of departments, administrative structure and rules of business.

Caretaker Provincial Ministers Doctor Javed Akram, SM Tanvir, Ibrahim Murad, Bilal Afzal, Jamal Nasir, Mansoor Qadir, Syed Azfar Ali Nasir and Amir Mir, Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar and other officials concerned attended the meeting.

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Virus found in Multan Road area samples on Jan 16 and from Gulshan-e-Ravi on Jan 2, says NIH

ISLAMABAD:
The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Sunday confirmed the detection of poliovirus from Lahore’s environmental samples for the second time this month.

According to the NIH, the poliovirus was detected in sewage water in the Multan Road area on Jan 16 and in the samples taken from Gulshan-e-Ravi, Lahore on Jan 2.

Experts said that environmental samples from Lahore currently contain polioviruses from South Waziristan and Nangarhar, Afghanistan.

However, the NIH said, no polio case had been reported in Pakistan, so far, this year.

The last poliovirus case from Lahore was reported in July 2020. However, the virus had been periodically detected in its sewage water. Last year, four environmental samples were found positive for the virus.

On Tuesday, Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel confirmed Pakistan’s first detection of the wild poliovirus in 2023 — found in an environmental sample in Lahore.

The poliovirus found in Gulshan-e-Ravi’s sample had links to Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province from last November, the NIH said.

Patel said the two “countries are united in the fight against the virus and are working together to eradicate” the crippling disease.

He added that while the isolation of the virus was a cause for concern, it was excellent to note that it was detected promptly. “This timely detection of the virus in the environment was crucial to protecting children from being paralysed by the poliovirus.”

Stressing the need to vaccinate children timely, the minister said: “The only way to stop the virus is to vaccinate all children under the age of five. It is critically important that parents and caregivers, particularly in Lahore, ensure that their child is vaccinated in the February round.”

While there was no cure for polio, vaccination was the most effective way to protect children from the crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five was vaccinated, their protection against the virus was increased.

Repeated immunisations protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become free of polio, besides the two endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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