Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said he is determined to collect tax from the affluent and spend money on the welfare of destitute to bring improvement in their lives.
Speaking at the inauguration of the first Ehsaas Saylani Langar here in Sector G-9 near Peshawar Morr, the prime minister said the biggest flaw of the current system is that it makes the rich even richer while the poor are getting poorer.
The Langar has been opened in joint collaboration of the government’s Ehsaas Programme and Saylani Welfare International Trust, which will provide free-of-cost meals thrice a day to the needy.
The prime minister said some people are getting impatient with the government and questioning about the existence of the ‘Naya Pakistan’ after just one-and-a-half year. “They must know that wrong practices of 70 years take time to phase out. But I assure you, this country will overcome tough times and witness a new dawn of progress and prosperity,” he said.
Imran Khan said with the government’s vision of making Pakistan a welfare state, steps are afoot to provide the poor with basic necessities of life including food and shelter. “Even if a country faces financial constraints but pursues the path of Allah Almighty to care for its deserving people, it will ultimately achieve success,” he said, and mentioned that the government has launched several welfare schemes for improvement of healthcare, police system and women-centric issues, with a basic objective of facilitating the common people.
During meal time at the Langar Khana, the prime minsiter stood in queue behind two labourers and got food in his plate on his turn. He shared the lunch with the already present poor people gathered for free meal at the venue.
Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan approved, in principle, the re-structuring plan of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), aimed at making it efficient and improving its service delivery.
He directed that the plan should be presented before the next cabinet meeting for consideration and final approval, Prime Minister Office Media Wing in a press release said.
A plan in this regard was presented during a meeting chaired by the prime minister at the Prime Minister Office. The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Assistant for Overseas Pakistani Zulfiqar Abbas Bokhari, Interior Secretary Maj (r) Azam Suleman Khan, CDA Chairman Amer Ahmed Ali, Nayyar Ali Dada and others.
It was explained during the meeting that the object of restructuring is to introduce effective corporate governance model in the organization. The CDA chairman also presented the progress report of the last six months and apprised the prime minister that for the first time, CDA’s financial health has significantly improved with an available balance of approximately 11 billion rupees to be utilized for the developmental activities.
The prime minister was informed that after devolution and creation of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), the primary role of CDA has curtailed to the development of sectors. It was observed that the development of sectors has been stalled for the last many decades. However, the CDA is now on the verge of initiating development in the stalled sectors, which will lead to creation of 23,000 more housing units.
