Punjab Province

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan
Director General Lahore Development Authority Taha Farooq visited Bhati Chowk, Inner Circular Road and Lahore Railway Station to review progress on various ongoing development projects.
The LDA DG inspected development work around the outer area of Data Darbar and Bhati Chowk. TEPA Chief Engineer Iqrar Hussain and LDA Chief Engineer Israr Saeed briefed him on the progress of the projects.
Officials said the pedestrian underpass outside Data Darbar has been completed, while development work on the parking area and toilet block is in its final finishing stages. Landscaping and green-area development around Bhati Chowk is also nearing completion, while a dedicated resting area for workers is expected to be completed soon.
Taha Farooq also reviewed traffic flow at Hazrat Ali Hajveri Underpass and inspected a pilot project for the upgrading and improvement of property facades along the Inner Circular Road.
Later, the LDA DG visited Lahore Railway Station and adjoining areas, where he reviewed work on Ek Moriya and Do Moriya bridges, the railway wall and Circular Road.
The LDA chief engineer briefed him that installation of the dancing fountain at Azadi Chowk is nearing completion. A dedicated resting area has also been established outside the railway station for porters.
According to officials, encroachments underneath the Sheranwala Flyover have been removed and a landscaped seating area has been developed at the site.
The LDA DG directed officials to ensure regular water sprinkling around development sites and stressed maintaining cleanliness and a better environment during the execution of ongoing projects.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan
Experts have warned that Pakistan’s population challenge is not limited to family planning, but is increasingly linked with rapid urban expansion, shrinking agricultural land, water scarcity, food security and growing pressure on basic urban infrastructure. Continued population growth is expected to increase demand for housing, water supply, sanitation, transport, healthcare and education in expanding cities.
The issue was discussed at a meeting of the Media Coalition on Population organised by the National Population Council in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on “The Role of Media in Informed Action for Population Balance.” More than 30 journalists from national, provincial and regional media organisations participated in the meeting.
Dr Ali Mir, Country Director of the Population Council, said the population issue was not confined to a single sector and was directly connected with water scarcity, rapid urban expansion, declining agricultural land, food insecurity, malnutrition, and the health and education of women and children.
He noted that per capita agricultural land in Pakistan has declined by around 80% since 1965. He stressed that the relationship between population growth and increasingly limited resources must become part of the national development debate.
Experts said rapid and unplanned urban expansion could accelerate the conversion of agricultural land into residential and commercial areas while increasing the need for investment in water supply, sewerage, roads, public transport, healthcare, education and other essential infrastructure.
They emphasised that population planning should therefore be integrated with long term urban development and infrastructure planning so that growing cities can meet future demands for housing and public services.
The federal government is pursuing family planning under the National Population Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, as part of a broader development agenda linking population planning with healthcare, education, better opportunities for young people, women’s economic participation, skills development and social protection.
Kazim Salman, Deputy Chief Population at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, said the National Population Council includes the chief ministers of all four provinces, the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan and key federal ministers. The Planning Commission will serve as the council’s secretariat.
According to Salman, the government views population welfare as a balance between rights and responsibilities and is linking family planning with wider social and economic development.
The meeting also discussed barriers faced by low income women in accessing family planning services, the role of the newly established National Population Council and the media’s role in monitoring implementation of the government’s population welfare strategy.
Experts stressed that addressing Pakistan’s population challenge should go beyond reducing population growth. Future planning must also account for the expansion of cities and the growing demand for housing, water, food, transport, healthcare, education and other essential infrastructure.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan
The Punjab government has prepared a major revision to the eligibility criteria for the “Apna Khet, Apna Rozgar” scheme to ensure that deserving applicants are not excluded due to the absence of poverty scores in official databases.
Under the proposed mechanism, 31,505 applicants whose poverty scores are not available in either the Punjab Socio-Economic Registry (PSER) or the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) will be assessed through a separate personal economic evaluation process.
According to official documents, the scheme received a total of 271,015 applications. Of these, records of 210,777 applicants were found in the PSER, while another 28,740 applicants were registered in the NSER. As a result, poverty scores are available for 239,510 applicants, whereas 31,505 applicants have no poverty score recorded in either registry.
To prevent deserving landless applicants from being excluded because of missing poverty data, the Board of Revenue has developed a new personal economic assessment form. Under the proposed criteria, applicants with a poverty score of 32 or below in the PSER or NSER will qualify for the scheme.
Applicants whose poverty scores are unavailable will instead undergo a field assessment to determine their economic condition. Those securing 23 or below in the field survey have also been proposed for eligibility under the scheme.
Sources said the Finance Department had raised concerns regarding the transparency of the personal economic assessment process, including the authority responsible for conducting the surveys and the mechanism for verifying the collected data.
Following the department’s directions, field teams conducted surveys of the applicants under the supervision of deputy commissioners, while the information collected was subsequently verified at the district level.
According to the Board of Revenue, the personal economic assessment form was developed in consultation with the Punjab Social Protection Authority and the Punjab Land Records Authority. After the Board clarified the proposed mechanism, the Finance Department also endorsed the amendment.
Officials said the revised eligibility mechanism is aimed at bringing deserving landless applicants into the scheme who may otherwise have been excluded because their poverty data was not available in the government’s official socioeconomic registries.