IN a welcome development, the ruling party has now started paying more attention to promote the ideal of good governance and improve the service delivery. It is also encouraging that Prime Minister Imran Khan himself is seized with the issue and holds regular meetings to resolve day-to-day problems and sufferings of the masses through administrative and other means.
The Prime Minister is known for his plain talk and straight-forward thinking on issues concerning welfare of the people and that is why he has repeatedly acknowledged the fact that the price-hike was the most serious problem of the country. Apart from holding numerous high level meetings during recent weeks on the subject, the PM, on Thursday chaired a briefing on the steps taken for good governance, providing justice to the common man, improvement in the police system and increase in Pakistani workforce abroad. All these issues have the potential to bring about a significant change in the life of the people provided concrete strategies are evolved for the purpose and their implementation is monitored at the highest level in a time-bound manner. No one can under-estimate the immense contribution being made by Overseas Pakistanis in mitigating financial and economic woes of the country as they are remitting back home over two billion dollars a month. Given the fact that the country has either to spread a begging bowl before bilateral and multilateral donors or raise funds through costly ventures from international market, the remittances by Overseas Pakistanis is a precious source of foreign exchange and the remittances, experts say, can be increased significantly if we make genuine and workable plans for an increase in Pakistani workforce abroad and to impart them skills that are highly remunerative.
With this in view, it augurs well that a three-year strategy and action plan has been prepared to increase the workforce abroad, which sets out the responsibilities of all the concerned agencies along with the timelines. No details of the plan are available but one hopes priority would be given to get the ban lifted that the United Arab Emirates has imposed on import of Pakistani manpower. Reforms in the police system and administration of justice are over-due and these should be introduced without loss of further time as most of the routine problems of the citizens would be addressed if police discharge its responsibilities honestly and diligently without any political interference in its working. Other issues discussed by the high level meeting included holding of open kutcheries to listen to the grievances and complaints of the people, speedy resolution of revenue-related problems, legislation on right of inheritance for women, devolution of power, promotion of use of technology, cleanliness in cities and ensuring greater access of people to the authorities concerned. All these issues have direct bearing on the quality of life of the citizens and quality of governance and, therefore, need constant attention by federal and provincial governments.
