The government on Wednesday announced to form the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on tourism and provincial tourism authorities to uplift the sector by enhancing the coordination between the Centre and federating units.
The decision was made in a high level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan here to discuss the measures for promotion of the tourism sector.
Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, special assistants to the prime minister Lt Gen (Retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Dr Shahbaz Gill, Advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister Asif Mahmood, provincial chief secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.
The prime minister directed for the formation of the NCC on Tourism to uplift the sector by improving the coordination between the federal and provincial governments.
He also instructed for holding the regular meetings of the would-be formed coordination committee. The prime minister directed for the early establishment of provincial tourism authorities and launch a drive to cleanse the tourist points of encroachments. The meeting decided to formulate a comprehensive waste management plan and introducing standard travelling facilities in cooperation with the private sector. The prime minister was told that a National Tourism Strategy 2020-2030 had been finalized to improve coordination between the center and federating units and take practical measures to uplift the tourism sector.
Under the 10-year strategy, an action plan for next five years had also been devised. A national calendar of events had been designed to hold multiple events besides setting uniform standards for every sector related to tourism.
In the meeting, a progress report was also presented on implementation of decisions to ensure productive use of official rest houses, governor houses and government guest houses. Reiterating his call for the productive use of the said buildings, the prime minister directed to ensure availability of those buildings to the public and utilize the revenue for preservation and renovation of the buildings.
Addressing the meeting, the prime minister, while citing the country’s tourism potential, said the government desired to develop countrywide tourism points in a way to reflect local culture and values besides providing quality services to the tourists.
He said the promotion of varied nature of tourism would accelerate the economic activities and besides creating job opportunities for the local population.
The prime minister also directed to introduce a comprehensive strategy to uplift the tourist points.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday stressing the importance of making youth stakeholders in economy said job opportunities would be provided to young people to exploit their potential.
The Prime Minister expressed these views in a meeting with Adviser on Finance Hafeez Sheikh and Special Assistant on Youth Affairs Usman Dar.
He was given a briefing on the latest facts and figures of Kamyab Jawan Programme besides consultation held on expediting the distribution of money among the youth under the programme.
The prime minister was updated that within a few days, more than 30,000 young people applied for the money and for their convenience, 21 banks would be handling the disbursement process.
So far, one billion rupees have been distributed among the youth while request for more than Rs53 billion have been received.
The prime minister directed distribution of funds be completed in a more expeditious and transparent manner.
He termed the programme very important to eliminate the negative impact of coronavirus on national economy.
The prime minister stressed exercising transparency and merit while making financial assistance.
Imran Khan said he was himself monitoring Kamyab Jawan Programme and decided to hold a monthly briefing on its progress.
He expressed satisfaction over the progress made so far in the programme and directed Special Assistant Usman Dar to submit review report every month.
Separately, on directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the performance evaluation of police department has been initiated with show cause notices and warnings issued to irresponsible officials with poor performance record, the PM Office said Wednesday.
The Prime Minister Office said it had received evaluation reports from Inspectors Generals (IGs) of Punjab and Khyber Pukhtankhwa on performance of officers regarding the redressal of complaints at PM’s Citizen Portal.
Three Divisional Police Offices (DPOs) from Punjab stationed in Rahim Yar Khan, Nankana Sahib and Bhakkar have been given notices seeking a reply to be submitted within a week. In case of no reply, strict action will be taken, the PM Office said.
According to report, the Punjab IGP appreciated the police officials with good performance including DPO Mandi Bahauddin, Superintendent Police Gulgasht Multan and Additional IG Special Branch.
Thirty-one police officers of Punjab have been placed in red category of Delivery Unit.
The KPK IGP issued notices to six police officials of the provincial police department on poor performance, the PM Office said.
