Shahbaz Sharif constitute working groups

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister designate, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a number of working groups to look into various aspects of the functioning of the Punjab government while one such group headed by Punjab Assembly Speaker designate, Rana Iqbal Ahmad Khan MPA and convenor, Shafqat Mehmood (former senator), is busy reviewing the annual development programme of the province.
This was disclosed by a spokesman of the P&D Department in a handout issued by DGPR here on Sunday. He disclosed that although the Shahbaz Sharif led government was still to take over yet it was hard at work. He disclosed that the afore-mentioned working group comprised a number of Punjab Assembly Members including Ch,Muhammad Ayaz, Rawalpindi, Mrs. Shahzadi Umerzadi, Sargodha, Mrs.Nazia Raheel, T.T.Singh, Malik Fayyaz Ahmad Awan, Hafizabad, Haji Nasir Mehmood, Gujrat, Kh.Salman Rafique, Lahore, Khawaja Muhammad Aslam, Faisalabad, Farooq Yousaf Gurki, Lahore, M.Javed Bhatti, Sheikhupura, Mian Yawar Zaman, Okara, Nishat Ahmad Khan Daha, Khanewal, Malik Ghulam Habib Awan, Lahore and Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa, DG Khan.
In addition to them Dr. Shahid Kardar, Dr.Rashid Amjad (Vice Chancellor PIDE) and Dr.Amjad Saquib are also the members of the working group.
The spokesman further disclosed that the working group held to marathon sessions in which the P&D Chairman and his team deliberated on various aspects of the last year’s ADP and the Medium Term Development Framework for the Punjab. Apart from this, special briefing sessions were also held on Irrigation, Health, Mega Projects such as Lahore ring Road, Sialkot-Lahore Motorway and the proposed Lahore Mass Transit Project. He pointed out that a particular focus was on foreign funded project and issued such as regional equity avoiding wastage and ostentation, and gender mainstreaming.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Chairman of the working group, Rana Iqbal keeping in view the austerity drive on the part of Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, instead of having a lunch from the largess of the Punjab government, invited the participating members to the People House where a simple but sumptuous lunch was served to them. This was clearly a shadow of the things to come as Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif had taken hard decisions particularly converting the grand Chief Minister’s Secretariat into a women IT university.
The working group on annual development programme was directed by Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to finish its work in one week and present its report to him, it added.