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LAHORE, Nov 22 (APP):Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif met a delegation of participants of the 27th National Security Workshop of the National Defence University (NDU) here on Saturday and briefed them on her government’s various public welfare, governance and development initiatives.
The CM said that Punjab was moving ahead with a clear commitment to merit, transparency and service delivery. She welcomed the participants, responded to their questions and underlined that Pakistan stands proud of its defence and diplomatic achievements following the success of Operation Bunyan-um-Marsus.
The CM said her government had launched numerous welfare, infrastructure and service-improvement initiatives across Punjab, with many more in progress. She said inequitable resource distribution and lack of accountability weakened public-sector performance in the past, but her administration was working to correct structural deficiencies. She added that Punjab successfully saved millions of people and livestock during recent floods, while timely medical action prevented infectious outbreaks. She noted that Pakistan’s climate initiatives had been globally appreciated, as Punjab intensified smog-control measures through smog guns, crop residue management and zigzag kiln technology, supported by digital monitoring. She said cross-border crop burning continued to affect Lahore’s air quality, but overall improvement was visible.
CM Maryam Nawaz said meaningful governance required courage and timely decisions, not fear of reaction or loss of votes. She said her government took action against encroachments despite resistance, adding that strict adherence to merit remained Punjab’s guiding principle. No recruitment had been made on political grounds, she said.
She said women were serving for the first time as ministers, secretaries, commissioners, deputy commissioners and DPOs, reflecting Punjab’s commitment to inclusive governance.
The CM said the government’s policy of not purchasing wheat prevented middlemen from profiteering, and Punjab remained the only province where prices of wheat, flour and bread had not increased. She said inflation had fallen sharply from 40 per cent to 4 per cent, giving relief to low-income households. She noted that cooperation from the bureaucracy had strengthened governance, adding that work was underway on 1,650 roads spanning 30,000 kilometres, with billions saved through e-tendering. She said the government was expanding transport facilities, providing wheelchairs on all e-buses, and constructing a modern burn centre, orthopedic hospital and Pakistan’s first government cancer hospital, now nearing completion.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif said first-stage cancer was being treated effectively through ablation technology, while Punjab’s air ambulance service had saved dozens of lives by ensuring emergency transfers within the golden hour. She said 7,000 out of 15,000 planned pediatric heart surgeries had been completed under the Children’s Heart Card initiative, and a 1,000-bed cardiology hospital for children was under construction. She added that Punjab was moving towards mechanized agriculture, and 300,000 cattle had been added to promote livestock development. She said field visits, including to tandoors to check prices and quality of roti, were essential for firsthand assessment. She added that thermal imaging drone cameras helped rescue millions of people and animals during floods.
Discussing development plans, the CM said the Lahore Development Plan and Punjab Development Program would transform cities and villages. Punjab had launched the world’s largest mechanized waste management system, she said, adding that education remained the best route to equality and the government was providing home-based business opportunities for women. She said creating more provinces would further divide the country and emphasised that Punjab was the only province taking concrete steps for environmental protection.
She said Punjab was opening economic zones and industrial estates to investors, and “even free land” would be offered to attract investment. The Garment City Plug-and-Play project was ready for launch, she noted. She said Punjab currently had 2,400 MW of electricity and her aim was to lower the per-unit cost to Rs 16–17. Projects worth trillions of rupees continued without corruption allegations, she said, expressing hope that Punjab would be corruption-free in five years. She said political opponents resorted to personal attacks, but she would respond with performance, not rhetoric.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif said the government was working to make educational institutions drug-free. The head of the NDU delegation thanked the Chief Minister for the comprehensive briefing, while participants appreciated the Punjab government’s wide-ranging public welfare initiatives.