Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday ordered the execution of sewerage, drainage and paved-street projects in more than 3,500 villages across the province and introduced a community-based organisation (CBO) mechanism for the development of model villages.
Presiding over a meeting on rural development at her office here, the chief minister directed that drainage and sewerage problems in villages be resolved on a priority basis and ordered authorities to make village streets paved, clean and aesthetically improved.
The meeting also gave an in-principle approval to involve assistant commissioners, community health mobilisers, union council secretaries, headmasters and other relevant stakeholders in rural development projects to ensure effective coordination and community participation.
It was further agreed to assign members of the provincial assembly the responsibility of monitoring rural development projects in their respective areas.
CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said she could not see people suffering because of broken streets and stagnant, dirty water, stressing that provision of drainage, sewerage and paved streets in every village was the government’s responsibility. ‘People living in villages also have an equal right to public resources,’ she said.
The CM said the Model Village Project was very close to her heart and expressed her resolve to transform the condition of every village in Punjab. She directed the relevant departments to ensure timely implementation of the rural development projects and effective monitoring to achieve the objective of providing better civic facilities to the rural population.
