Punjab, KP chief ministers told to arrange winter shelters.

Byline: Jamal Shahid

ISLAMABAD -- Prime MiniAster Imran Khan on Sunday directed the chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take steps to provide temporary shelters and food to every person in their respective province in the wake of extreme and harsh cold weather.

'Given the extremely cold weather conditions, I have asked CMs of Punjab and KP to ensure that no person is left out without a shelter; and their administrations must take immediate action to provide temporary shelters plus food for those who cannot be accommodated in existing PanahAgahs (shelter homes),' writes the prime minister on his official Twitter account.

Soon after receiving the directives, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar ordered setting up of temporary shelter homes for those who slept on roadsides in extreme cold weather.

He reportedly said that temporary shelter homes would be set up in those districts where there were no permanent shelter homes. He said protecting homeless people from extreme weather was a responsibility of the state. He said a report should be sent to the CM Office after setting up these shelter homes.

The PTI government on the directives of the prime minister has already set up a number of shelter homes, known as Panahgahs, in major cities of the country.

The prime minister's tweet, however, prompted a response from main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) secretary information Marriyum Aurangzeb who drew Mr Khan's attention towards his promises of providing five million homes and 10m jobs to people. She said instead of focusing on shelter homes and soup kitchens, the prime minister should fulfil his promises.

Ms Aurangzeb in a statement said that Mr Khan...