Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday reiterated his government’s resolve to confiscate the properties made by the previous rulers out of the looted wealth and bring back the public money laundered abroad to spend it for alleviation of poverty.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Mianwali Express, which is to ply between Lahore and Mianwali, Imran Khan said during his visits to the western countries, he would urge their leaderships to stop inflow of the corruption money to their countries if they wanted that money to be spent for poverty alleviation in the developing countries.
The prime minister told the charged gathering carrying party flags and chanting slogans, that he will fulfill his commitment he had made during the electioneering for elimination of corruption from the country. He said those who had looted the country would be made accountable and the money recovered from them would be spent on public welfare. He said the government has already started action against the benami properties and will also bring back the looted money from abroad, though it might take some time. He said the money recovered from the sale of benami properties will be diverted towards the government’s flagship anti-poverty programme ‘Ehsaas’.
The prime minister said the facilitation of the common man is the only focus of the government. As the economic situation is easing consequent to loans from some friendly countries, the government will revamp the whole rail network, he said, adding that the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project will revolutionise the railway system by reducing the Lahore-Karachi travel time to eight hours besides thinning the burden on the road network.
Reiterating his government’s priority to education and health sectors, the prime minister said the government will uplift all the areas which had been neglected in the past.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said he will ensure teachers at all the schools of Mianwali and the residents will get clean drinking water and quality healthcare at hospitals. He also assured of keeping his words for generating job opportunities for the people of Mianwali.
He said as per commitment, his government will reform the police system and kutchery and the people will see a clear difference after the incumbent government completed its five-year term. He said that he desires every youngster to get skill training so that they can find jobs easily.
Separately, in his address at the foundation-laying ceremony of a hospital in Mianwali’s Namal valley, Prime Minister Imran Khan invited the private sector to step forward in adopting the country’s major hospitals and join the government’s journey of bringing improvement in health sector. “Under the adopt-a-hospital project, we can bring a significant change in health sector through public-private partnership,” the prime minister said, adding that the government alone cannot revamp all hospitals across the country.
Terming corruption as the biggest impediment in the country’s progress, Prime Minister Khan said looters of public money will be held accountable at every cost. “This time, the powerful will come under the claw of accountability who inflicted immense damage to the country during their tenures,” he said. The prime minister said regardless of any opposition, the accountability process will proceed unhindered. “I have been waiting for this moment since 22 years [of my political struggle] to bring to book those who plundered public money,” he said, adding that the national culprits are raising hue and cry over accountability, dubbing it as ‘political revenge and a threat to democracy’. “In fact, they want to hide their corruption, but people are well aware of these political gimmicks,” he said.
Imran Khan said the government has given full authority to the institutions to proceed with the accountability process without any pressure. By ending corruption, the prime minister said he wanted to restore the confidence of international investors in Pakistan. He said several overseas Pakistani entrepreneurs told him that they are willing to invest in Pakistan but are hesitant due to corruption. The prime minister expressed confidence that Pakistan will achieve the status of a strong and prosperous country as the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has started taking tough measures in the best national interest. “It’s my promise to the nation that I will get this country on the trajectory of development,” he said.
