Overview
- Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired a review meeting on Monday and told the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority to adopt a people-friendly approach while warning that arrogance, misuse of authority and corruption would not be tolerated.
- She directed that, except for anti-encroachment and price-control operations, PERA must act only after a prior digital requisition and that anti-encroachment drives must be preceded by public notice and warning.
- The chief minister reaffirmed a previous order for mandatory body cameras for PERA officials by June 30 and ordered stronger public-facing complaint handling through the ‘Ask PERA’ portal and improved direct outreach.
- PERA presented enforcement and legal figures at the meeting, saying it had carried out 1,527,028 inspections, sealed 3,509 shops, retrieved over 21,000 kanals of land, made about 1,700 arrests, and won roughly 99 percent of writ petitions against it.
- Officials said they have begun institutional reforms including a Kallar Kahar training academy, an Internal Affairs Unit, roughly 700 disciplinary punishments and 20 dismissals, and a target to complete permanent recruitment by June 2027 to professionalize oversight and reduce complaints.