Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting to provide better facilities in shelter homes. The committee led by ACS (U&I) presented its recommendations for bringing improvements in shelter homes and important decisions were made. The CM accorded approval to establish ten new shelter homes in rented buildings in the provincial metropolis adding that identification of suitable places be done soon for setting up new shelter homes. This model will be replicated in other big cities in phases and standard of facilities will also be improved. The CM also gave in-principle approval to setting up Punjab Shelter Homes Authority to oversee the arrangements while C&W Departments will take care of the buildings. He disclosed that PITB will devise the IT-based system to digitally monitor the shelter homes. All shelter homes will be geotagged and necessary data will be collected every day. The government will develop the best system to facilitate the hapless stratus, he stressed. The CM directed to install signs for the identification of shelter homes on important roads and entry points and further directed to acquire more vehicles for shifting the abandoned people, sleeping on city roads, to nearby shelter homes and the cooperation of the philanthropist be acquired as well. The meeting decided to set up rehabilitation centres for baggers and addicts along with the start of almonries for feeding the needy outside shelter homes. The CM expressed the satisfaction that the PTI government has provided shelter to the shelterless and maintained that the dream of a welfare state will be materialized under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Taking care of the hapless is a great virtue but the previous governments did not attend to the needs of such people, the CM concluded. ACS (U&I), secretaries of finance and social welfare departments, CCPO Lahore, DC Lahore, Chairman PITB and others attended the meeting.
