LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has announced official holidays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to save energy and said that there will be a cut in the salaries of ministers and officers.
According to details, Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said regarding the large-scale austerity measures in the province that in view of the global situation and increasing expenses, the Punjab government, starting with itself, has decided to make huge cuts in the benefits of ministers, bureaucracy and members of the assembly.
The Finance Minister said that the Punjab cabinet has decided not to take salary and fuel for the next two months. In addition, 25 percent of the salary of all officers and members of the assembly from grade 17 to 22 will be deposited in a special fund and orders have been issued to immediately park all official protocol vehicles, while a complete ban has been imposed on foreign visits of government officers and ministers.
Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that the fuel budget of all government departments has been cut by 50 percent, which will remain in place until the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
To save energy, government offices will have a holiday on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (3 days), while non-essential staff have been shifted to ‘work from home’.
The Finance Minister made it clear that despite the austerity measures, there will be no compromise on education, health and agriculture.
He said that ration cards have been issued to 900,000 beneficiaries, the number of which will be increased to 1.5 million by June, while Rs 1,100 billion was spent on development works compared to Rs 842 billion last year.
The government has imposed a complete ban on the purchase of new government vehicles and luxury items for offices. A special committee will decide on the provision of vehicles to the police or other departments in emergency situations. A 25 percent cut has also been applied immediately in the non-development budget.
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