German Ambassador Mr Alfred Grannas called on Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi at the Chief Minister’s Office on Tuesday. First Secretary of the German Embassy Mrs Dorota Magdalena Berezicki, Chief Secretary Abdullah Sumbal, former Principal Secretary to CM GM Sikandar and others were also present.
Issues of mutual interest, bilateral relations and increasing cooperation in various fields were discussed. It was agreed to increase cooperation in the fields of education, health and water storage. Germany expressed its willingness to provide technical assistance to the Punjab government regarding water storage.
The CM informed about the flood disaster and the rehabilitation activities and added that Pakistan has been severely affected by climate change effects. It is not possible to describe the destruction caused by floods in different parts of Pakistan including southern Punjab districts. This is a daunting challenge that all nations should immediately address by adopting a common plan of action, he emphasised.
The CM noted that a special package has been formulated to rehabilitate the affectees and asserted that the international community needs to fully support Pakistan in this hour of trial. ‘I had started the program of channelizing the water of hill torrents of Koh-e-Sulaiman in 2002 in my previous tenure; unfortunately, the succeeding government stopped this beneficial program. Now, we are again channelizing the water and building small dams,’ said Parvez Elahi. Dams are necessary for Pakistan to prevent precious water from getting lost in the sea; he added and noted that a proper network of dams would have saved Pakistan from such devastations besides storing rainwater for future needs. We would be saved from this havoc if more dams are constructed, he maintained.
Germany is our best partner and Pakistan would like to benefit from its expertise in vocational and technical education, health and water storage. Punjab would take the lead in promoting cooperation with Germany in various fields and technical support for water storage from Germany will be welcomed, CM further said.
Alfred Grannas expressed regret over the loss of lives and property due to rains and floods and expressed the desire to promote cooperation with the Punjab government in various fields. We are desirous of accelerated steps to expand the bilateral cooperation, he added.
On the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, preventive cardiology departments would be set up in hospitals for early detection of heart diseases. While chairing a meeting to review setting up preventive cardiology departments, the CM observed that this facility would be useful to treat, screen and manage heart diseases. Awareness and treatment will be recommended in a special center for the prevention of heart diseases and it would be helpful to prevent the causes of heart diseases in advance, he said.
A pilot project of preventive cardiology will be started at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology and its scope would be gradually expanded to other cardiology institutes, he further said. Early diagnosis and treatment of diseases will save government resources. In developed countries, preventive cardiology departments provide valuable services for public health, he noted. Provincial Minister Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Dr Yasmin Rashid said that early diagnosis of heart diseases will reduce the pressure in government hospitals.
The research director of Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Dr Ezra Muhammad said that, in modern medical science, it is possible to detect heart disease on a genetic basis. Parents need to take preventive measures for children after a heart attack. Executive Director Punjab Institute of Cardiology Dr Bilal Mohyuddin said that blood pressure, sugar, smoking and a non-standard diet could cause heart diseases. Secretary specialized healthcare and medical education department, the secretary Punjab assembly and others attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has said that the performance of the officers will be linked with the completion of the development projects. The administrative secretaries should, therefore, ensure the timely and proper utilization of development funds to achieve desired results. He was delivering a keynote speech at the all secretaries conference at Darbar Hall of the civil secretariat on Monday. The CM issued guidelines for the early completion of development schemes, achievement of good governance targets and price control, and emphasised that a decision on the summary or file should be made within two days positively.
An implementation mechanism will be determined to ensure speedy disposal of the summary or file in the Chief Minister’s Office, he added. Similarly, tenure postings will be ensured so that the officers could perform and deliver duties wholeheartedly. Alongside this, the personal issues of officers will also be resolved on priority, he mentioned. The proposal to restore the magisterial system for price control was also considered and Parvez Elahi ordered a feasible mechanism for controlling prices. The secretaries’ offices will be open to the public from 9:30 am to 11:00 am daily; he said and emphasised that the common man’s problems should be solved in their cities and they shouldn’t have to go all the way to Lahore for this.
Together we have to fulfil the mission of the welfare of the nation. I want the bureaucrats of my team to serve the people with peace and satisfaction, he told. He said that officers and employees are my strength. Welfare projects will be implemented as a result of collective wisdom. Whatever project is started, all efforts should be made to complete it wholeheartedly, he stressed. More work should be done in south Punjab than before, he added.
The Chief Secretary Abdullah Sumbal said that the secretaries and heads of institutions will strive for public welfare with all their hearts and every resource will be used to speed up the development of the people. Secretaries of the south Punjab secretariat from Multan and Bahawalpur participated through a video link while the secretaries of local government and industries departments attended the meeting from the field through a video link. Former federal minister Moonis Elahi, Principal Secretary to CM Muhammad Khan Bhatti, SMBR Zahid Akhtar Zaman. Additional Chief Secretary Asadullah Khan, former principal secretary to CM GM Sikandar, besides secretaries of 42 departments, attended the meeting.
