Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz imposed blanket ban on appointments and transfers of government officials across the province.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has imposed a ban on all appointments and transfers across the Punjab. The notification for the appointments and transfers ban has been issued and it will be made affective and letter and spirit.

For the transfers and appointments special permission will have to be taken from the Chief Minister House.

Must Read: In first speech as CM, Maryam lays out ambitious five-year plan

Newly elected Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has extended an olive branch to the opposition, saying that the doors of her office and heart were open 24 hours for them.

Speaking on the floor of the assembly in her first speech as the chief minister, Maryam thanked God and congratulated the speaker and deputy speaker on assuming their respective offices. "I hope that under your leadership, the House will hold democratic values high," she stressed.

She also said that she regretted the absence of the opposition members, saying she wished they were here. "Being democratic workers, we understand how important it is to compete in politics. We have also faced difficult times when every tide was against us, and cruelty and brutality were inflicted on us. But thank God, we did not leave the field," she stressed.

She said she wished the opposition members were present to create commotion during her speech.

"I am a chief minister for everyone, including those who did not vote for me. The doors of my office and the doors of my heart are always open for the opposition," she remarked.

Maryam further thanked the members of the allied parties, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), PML-Q and PML-Zia.

Salient features of five-year agenda

- Vision to make Punjab an economic hub
- Focus on solving problems of Lahore and Punjab as first priority
- Policies to ease doing business for investors
- Activation of price control committees
- Launch of Ramazan package named "Nighebaan"
- Restarting Ramazan Bazaar model
- Revival and upgrading of government school infrastructure and curriculum
- Introduction of Punjab's first air ambulance service
- Establishment of at least one Daanish school in every district
- Aim for equal quality of education between private and government schools
- Implementation of a complete school transport system in Punjab
- Plan for state-of-the-art hospitals in every city of Punjab
- Provision of free medicines in emergency departments of government hospitals
- Collaboration with Rescue 1122 for motorway ambulance service
- Establishment of daycare centers at workplaces
- Construction of hostels for working women
- Reforms for transgender community inclusion
- Vision for a digital Punjab with free Wi-Fi in major cities
- Resumption of e-library project
- Provision of more soft loans for females compared to males, working women hostels
- Launch of Metro bus service in divisional headquarters
- Focus on reforms for south Punjab
- Expansion of Safe City project to 18 more cities in the first phase
- Introduction of more model police stations
- Establishment of special desks for women in police stations
- Initiatives for agricultural reforms
- Provision of free livestock for small farmers and businesses
- Introduction of electric cars and bikes initiative
- Initiative for 100,000 houses under "Apna Ghar Apni Chath" plan
- Establishment of more IT parks
- Implementation of population scanning for diseases
- Relief in utility bills
- Launch of new housing schemes