Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi چودہری پرویز الہی
Former Chief Minister of Punjab
In office 29 November 2002 – 22 November 2007
Preceded by	Shahbaz Sharif
Succeeded by	Shahbaz Sharif
Constituency	Rahim Yar Khan
Speaker of Punjab Assembly
In office 1997–1999
Preceded by	Manzoor Wattoo
Succeeded by	Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal Sahi
Personal details
Born	1 November 1945 Gujrat
Citizenship	Pakistani
Political party	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)
Residence	Lahore
Religion	Sunni Islam

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Punjabi, Urdu: چودہری پرویز الہی) (born 1 November 1945), is a Pakistani politician. He was the Chief Minister of Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, from 2002 to 2007. He is a senior leader and Provincial President of Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab.

Education

Pervaiz Elahi was born in November 1, 1945 in Gujrat, Pakistan. He graduated from the Forman Christian College, Lahore in 1967. He also obtained Diploma in Industrial Management from London.^{[citation needed]}

Family and Business

Pervaiz Elahi hails from a prominent political and business family. His late father Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi is the brother of late Ch. Zahoor Elahi, a seasoned parliamentarian who played a major role in restoration of democracy and human rights in the country and was awarded "PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE" by the Amnesty International. He was assassinated in a terrorist attack on 25th September, 1981. Pervez Elahi is the first cousin of Chaudhry Shujat Hussain, President Pakistan Muslim League, and former Prime Minister of Pakistan. His elder son Moonis Elahi is a well known young political leader of Pakistan.

Manzur Elahi, father of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, left his hometown in 1939 to pursue further studies. He received his degree in textile engineering from Amritsar in 1940. Upon his return from amritsar, Manzur Elahi teamed up with his brother Zahur Elahi to develop their textile business. In 1947-48, he Established two textile units under the names of Gujrat Silk Mills and Pakistan Textile Mills. In 1950, the business was expanded to Lahore where they established Parvez Textile Mills, specializing in weaving, finishing and dyeing. In 1951-52, Chaudhry Manzur Elahi went to Japan to import textile machinery for his Gujrat and Lahore units. Armed with his textile education and superior business ethics, Chaudry Manzur Elahi’s textile units continued to flourish under his leadership. The family continued to dedicate their energies to their business and set up Modern Flour Mills in Lahore and Rawalpindi. In 1962 the family purchased Pakistan Times.

Political Career

He was elected as Chairman District Council, Gujrat for the four (4) years. In 1985 he got elected unopposed as Member of Provincial Assembly of Punjab. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi became Minister for Local Government and Rural Development for a period of eight years. In 1993 he was elected Deputy Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly and also acted as Leader of the Opposition. He was elected unopposed Speaker of Provincial Assembly of Punjab in 1997. He is the elected President of Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab. In the general election 2002, he was elected Member of the Punjab Assembly for the 6th consecutive term. He served the Punjab province as Chief Minister from October 2002 to October 2007. He was elected for National and Provincial Assemblies in February 2008 Elections. He was the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Chief Minister Punjab

His notable political achievements includes reforms in the education sector which lead to literacy rate increasing from 47 percent in 2002, to 62 percent in 2007 in the province. It included free Education in public schools up to Metric, free Distribution of 28 million books in all public schools, stipend for 11 lac girls in 15 low literacy districts, provision of 118276 missing facilities in 63882 schools, 50000 graduate teachers recruited and 275 schools upgraded/established and teacher’s training for 122087 teachers in 2007/08. These steps were endorsed and appreciated by various donor agencies such as World Bank. His other notable achievement include setting up Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology in Multan, University of Gujrat in Gujrat, Traffic Wardens system in Lahore, Rescue 1122 service in Punjab , water course brick lining and Lahore Ring Road Project.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Shahbaz Sharif	Chief Minister of Punjab 2002 – 2007	Succeeded by Shiekh Ejaz Nisar

Persondata
Name	Elahi, Chaudhry Pervaiz
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 November 1945
Place of birth	Gujrat
Date of death
Place of death