Sports Policy To Ensure Provision Of Facilities To Youth: SACM

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2021 ) :Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Tuesday said that the first ever approved Punjab Sports Policy 2020 would ensure provision of sports facilities to the youth at district, tehsil and village level throughout the province.

Addressing a press conference here to share decisions taken in the provincial cabinet meeting, she said around 65 per cent population of the country consisted of people between age of 18 to 35 and facilities like quality education, better health facilities, employment, recreation, entertainment, livelihood and tourism were right of people.

The Punjab government had prioritized these areas in the fiscal budget presented for the year 2021-22, she added.

The Punjab cabinet in its meeting had approved first Punjab Sports Policy 2020 under which Sports Endowment Fund would be established and it would be a specific purpose fund which could not be used for any other purpose. The fund would be reserved as an asset and would be used sports activities, sports talent hunt programme and sports promotion related activities only.

Majority of the population was living in rural areas and to promote healthy activities in such areas, the Punjab government had selected up to 200 villages where sports ground will be constructed in each village, she maintained.

Under the sports policy, she said the government would also take care of the sports persons' medical fitness related issues and it was a part of the sports policy.

The government would also construct sports grounds in up to 1,400 government schools in the province to promote healthy activities among the students. Multi-purpose tehsil sports coplex would be established at 64 tehsil headquarters, she said.

The provincial cabinet Punjab also gave approval to Irrigation Act 2021 to improve management, training and irrigation system in the province. Upgradation, modernization of the irrigation system and protection of water would be ensured under the act.

The SACM said the government had effectively worked on water conservation strategic plan for improving underground water levels in the city and the steps taken by the PTI government had yielded positive results.

The cabinet had also approved provision of flour at subsidized rate as 10 kg flour bag price had been fixed at Rs 430 at 332 sahulat bazaars in the province. The Ramzan bazaars had now been converted to sahulat bazaars, she added.

The Punjab government had been following austerity plan in the government offices, including the chief minister office and cabinet, and the government saved Rs 67 billion in the drive and the amount was shifted to the district development fund package.

To protect and preserve endangered species, Wildlife Amendment Act has been approved by the cabinet meeting.

Social sector had been a priority area of the government and the rights of the people had been protected through various measures announced in the provincial budget, she added.

Commenting on Shehbaz Sharif's appearance in the FIA, she said that it had become a common practice by the Sharif family to target national institutions whenever they were called to give answers of the wrong deeds committed by them. She said that criticizing the institutions should be avoided as nobody was above the law.

To a question, she said that the government had been working keenly to bring uniform education policy to improve standard of the quality education and adequate steps were being taken in this regard.

To another query, she said the Federal as well as the provincial Punjab government would ensure provision of maximum facilitation to people as a pro-people budget had been presented by the government, she said adding that the PTI government would continue serving the masses for five years given mandate and the government would complete its term.