–Inaugurates complaint portal for citizens
–Prime minister says portal will give people ownership of govt, hold public servants accountable
–Imran Khan reiterates loans from KSA have no conditions attached
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Pakistan Citizens’ Portal (PCP)— set up at the Prime Minister Office with an aim to “timely address the problems of the people and get their feedback” — on Sunday.
Addressing the ceremony, the premier said that due to the portal, the government officials will be under pressure to perform. “For the first time in Pakistan, the officials will be held accountable,” he said, adding that this is the “first step towards good governance”.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fahmida Mirza, Principal Secretary to PM Azam Khan, Special Assistant to PM on Political Affairs Naeemul Haq, Special Assistant to PM on Media Iftikhar Durrani, Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Hussain Bukhari and others, besides a number of media persons, attended the event.
He said the previous rulers failed to change the colonial mindset and treated the people as subjugated class. Such trend did not change and the public expectations with the government offices ran very low, but now that trend had to change, the government offices and officers should serve the people, he added.
The prime minister regretted that unfortunately the wealthy and influential people got their issues resolved but the ordinary man on the street had to suffer.
He further said that through the portal, people can launch their complaints and there will be a time-frame for the resolution of the issue. “Through this system, it will be easier for me to receive the details of the performance of all the ministries. Complaints will be then sent to the concerned departments,” the PM added.
Saying that the system “is a means to change the prevailing mindset”, the premier said that when people ask what is Naya Pakistan. “Naya Pakistan is here to change the minds of the people.”
Giving an example of Turkey, the prime minister said, “There was a change in Turkey because the premier resolved the issues of the citizens.”
“Naya Pakistan will soon be born when people will realise that their problems are being heard,” he asserted.
PM Khan further said that the feedback government will receive from the portal will be first of its kind. “Even in Europe there is no system of this kind and we will publish the gathered data on monthly basis,” he said.
Giving an answer to a question, the prime minister said that the system will inform the citizens regarding the time need to solve their problem. “The system is connected to all the four provincial secretaries,” he further stated.
He expressed the confidence that the programme would also help the government to make policies based upon public feedback and suggestions, and their opinion would serve as springboard and thrust for such policies.
On the occasion, the prime minister formally launched the portal. The people can approach the government departments concerned through Pakistan Citizen’s Portal after completing their registration process with the help of specific mobile application download.
The prime minister, in his speech, further said the erstwhile neglected and deprived classes of the society, including females belonging to remote areas, would be able to approach the departments concerned. The overseas Pakistanis, especially the labour class, would also benefit from the web portal as they could register their issues and the embassies concerned abroad had to respond.
Similarly, the parliamentarians would also be able to register their concerns, he added.
He said that the programme would help the government to devise a merit-based policy in the promotion and demotion of government functionaries on the basis of their performance. He noted that corruption was the main reason for eroding the efficacy and functioning of the government departments.
THE CITIZENS’ PORTAL:
The portal will be used to send complaints and suggestions directly to the Prime Minister’s Office, which will oversee the process of addressing the public complaints.
Speaking to APP, Deputy Secretary of Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU) Adil Saeed Safi said, “After registering with the portal, citizens residing in Pakistan and abroad can register their complaints online through an application.”
“An Android version of the application is available and an iOS version will be made available soon,” he added.
Safi further said, “Complaints will automatically reach the heads of relevant departments who will then take appropriate step to address the matter. The maximum time limit for addressing a complaint will be ten days.”
“About 3760 federal and provincial departments are linked with the portal. Provincial governments have already been informed about the new initiative,” the PMDU secretary added.
The PCP is the first of its kind application in Pakistan which integrates various departments of the government.
Moreover, talking about the debt crisis, PM Khan said that soon everyone will see that prime minister will not have to go to foreign countries to ask for loans.
Responding to a question regarding the loan from Saudi Arabia, the premier said that there are “no conditions involved”.
Responding to another question regarding complaints about the judicial system, he said the PTI government was also working to reform CrPC under its 100 days agenda and would forward public complaints to the judiciary.
The prime minister observed that the country had been facing an enormous burden of foreign debts and bringing the foreign investment to the country was needed by introducing a culture of ‘ease of doing business ’. The foreign and local investors would get facilitation through the PCP.
He referred that such facility had been introduced by the Turkish government to attract foreign investment.
The prime minister said certain elements raising hue and cry had been facing old NAB cases and his government had not yet initiated anything against them. The democracy could be in danger if such occasion arose in future, he said in a lighter vein.
