LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said the development and improvement of every city and village is the government’s mission, adding that she is satisfied to see Pakpattan, a district she described as neglected for years, now moving towards development.
According to an official statement issued on Friday, the chief minister expressed these views during a meeting with members of the Provincial Assembly from Pakpattan. The delegation included Farooq Ahmed Maneka, Ch Javed Ahmed, Imran Akram and Sardar Mansab Ali Dogar. Matters relating to public issues and local needs were discussed during the sitting.
The legislators presented proposals covering both urban and rural development in the district and thanked the chief minister for launching electric buses and initiating several development schemes there.
Such meetings have become a routine feature of the provincial government’s working style, with district-level delegations bringing constituency demands directly to the chief minister’s office rather than routing them solely through line departments. For smaller districts like Pakpattan, which have historically ranked lower in provincial development allocations than central Punjab’s larger urban centres, that direct access carries practical weight. Further Punjab government coverage is available on the national desk.
The MPAs described the electric bus service as a “game changer project of the decade” and expressed gratitude to the chief minister and her team for the beautification of Pakpattan city.
They said people were thankful for the launch of modern electric buses in the land of Baba Farid (RA), noting that 15 environment-friendly electric buses were providing quality transport facilities to residents of the district.
The buses operate on three major routes and are facilitating thousands of passengers, according to the statement. The services run from the General Bus Stand Pakpattan to Arifwala, Bunga Hayat and Noor Pur Sial.
The rollout forms part of a wider provincial push to extend electric public transport beyond Lahore and other large cities into mid-sized districts, a shift that carries both a service dimension and an environmental one. It also lands at a time when running costs for conventional transport remain under pressure, with petrol crossing Rs367 per litre this month. Districts such as Pakpattan have long relied on privately operated wagons and informal transport arrangements, where fares fluctuate and schedules are unreliable. A fixed-route, government-run service on intercity links changes the daily calculation for commuters, students and traders travelling towards Arifwala in particular.
The provincial government has paired the bus rollout with other electric mobility measures, including the subsidised e-bike scheme offering students monthly instalments of Rs3,028 with no down payment.
The legislators also thanked the chief minister for establishing modern Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence in Arifwala, Pakpattan. The programme is part of the provincial government’s education agenda, under which selected public sector schools are upgraded with improved facilities and learning infrastructure.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif directed the MPAs to keep a close watch on the quality, pace and transparency of ongoing development projects in Pakpattan. That instruction follows continuing scrutiny of delivery timelines on large public schemes elsewhere in the province, including the Rs16 billion Jinnah Institute of Cardiology, which has yet to begin full operations.
She said the development and prosperity of every city and village, including Pakpattan, remained the government’s foremost objective.
“I am pleased that Pakpattan, which remained neglected for years, is now on the path of development,” she said.
The chief minister added that she was personally monitoring development projects in every city and every area and was working round the clock to make Punjab a better and the best province.
The instruction to legislators to monitor delivery on the ground places a measure of accountability with elected representatives rather than administration alone. Whether that translates into faster completion of schemes in Pakpattan will become clearer as the current development cycle progresses and the district’s allocations are reflected in the next provincial budget.
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