Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday said elimination of corrupt practices in Punjab was one of the biggest challenges for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government and stressed upon the Punjab cabinet members to make it their foremost priority to identify corrupt practices and take strict action against the corrupt elements.
Addressing the provincial cabinet members after his arrival at the CM Secretariat, Imran said performance of the Punjab government should be a trend setter for rest of the provinces. He expressed serious concerns over land grabbing and encroachments in the province in general and Lahore in particular. He directed that mafias and big groups, who had been involved in encroachments and land grabbing, must be taken to task.
He directed the chief minister to immediately launch an anti-encroachment drive and take action against land grabbers, assuring his fullest support to the provincial government in this regard.
The prime minister emphasized the need for adopting austerity and simplicity, and said that the cabinet members should set an example while remaining at the forefront. “We must invest on human development while rationalising our expenditures simultaneously with austerity and simplicity because Pakistan has the lowest human development index in the region,” he added. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar warmly welcomed the prime minister on behalf of the provincial cabinet and reaffirmed the commitment to implement PTI’s reforms and development agenda of a ‘Naya Pakistan’.
The prime minister felicitated the provincial cabinet members on assuming their portfolios and said huge responsibility lay on their shoulders as Punjab was the biggest province of the country in terms of population. He urged the provincial cabinet to work tirelessly for implementation of the 100-day agenda of the present government to bring a visible change in the socio-economic spheres of the people’s lives.
Imran said he would be frequently visiting the province and would remain at the forefront to oversee the implementation of 100-day agenda.
At a separate meeting with provincial secretaries of Punjab here at the CM Secretariat, Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday stressed upon the need for improving governance, service delivery, transparency and promoting merit at all levels in order to capitalize the immense potential of the country.
The prime minister highlighted the role of bureaucracy in steering the country out of various challenges that the country faced today. Difficult circumstances, he said, required tough decisions. The reform agenda of the present government needed wholehearted commitment of the bureaucracy coupled with performance to translate the vision into reality, he added.
“Your performance will be the only consideration for the present government. We will provide you opportunity and will not interfere in the functional domain as we demonstrated in KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), which produced unprecedented outcomes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan had to face a protest demonstration outside his house in Lahore. Teachers of the Punjab University staged a protest in Zaman Park for not being regularised, while the residents of NA-125 staged protest against non-cooperative attitude of NADRA. Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of the protest and directed NADRA chairman to meet the people and address their grievances. Prime Minister Imran Khan has also directed the provincial government and city administration of Lahore to remove all unnecessary barricades from the city to facilitate the residents and ease their movement.
Published in Daily Times, September 2nd 2018.
