LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan has for the first time shifted his focus from the provincial civil bureaucracy to public representatives, directing Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar to communicate closely with members of the national and provincial assemblies and get their feedback about the prevalence of corruption and quality of governance in the province.

Regretting that the government system had degenerated and become more of a hurdle than a facilitator in development, Mr Khan maintained that the system could not be reformed overnight though the process of reformation of state institutions had begun.

The prime minister arrived here on Saturday and left for Islamabad early in the evening after addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of Quaid-i-Azam Business Park, Sheikhupura, which was arranged in Lahore, besides having a one-on-one meeting with CM Buzdar, chairing a meeting on the provincial health sector and exchanging views with MNAs and MPAs.

At the meeting, Mr Khan reportedly assured Mr Buzdar that he would continue serving as the chief executive of the province till the completion of his government’s constitutional term in 2023.

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan later also endorsed that CM Buzdar enjoyed full confidence of the premier.

Asks Punjab CM to be in constant communication with lawmakers

Following a briefing by the chief minister, it is learnt that the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the Punjab government’s progress in controlling coronavirus, setting up of River Ravi Front Authority and other ongoing development projects in the province.

In separate meetings with MNAs and MPAs as well as those belonging to south Punjab, the PM directed the bureaucrats to pay “courtesy calls” on the lawmakers of areas where they were transferred and posted to, to develop a liaison with the public representatives and address people’s issues.

The lawmakers from south Punjab lauded the premier and CM Buzdar for establishing South Punjab Secretariat to solve people’s problems at their doorsteps.

In his meeting with MNAs, the prime minister was quoted as saying that Mr Buzdar was working fairly well as the chief minister.

Acknowledging that corruption was abound, particularly at the lower level, Mr Khan asked the CM to allow access to all MNAs and MPAs, take them on board, seek their feedback about ground realities and take measures to plug corruption and improve governance in Punjab at a faster pace.

He also asked the chief minister to consider development works being recommended by MNAs in their respective constituencies. He also hinted that each the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA in Punjab would be given Rs100 million as development funds for his/her respective constituency — the practice prevalent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan also.

Sources told Dawn the prime minister stated that he had been receiving information about rampant corruption and not-so-good governance from various districts, including Mianwali, Lahore and Multan.

During his meeting with MNAs, PTI’s Ahmad Hussain Deharr reportedly came up to the premier to say that there was rampant corruption in Multan and outside interference in postings and transfers of government officers in his constituency — referring to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Mr Qureshi was also present in the meeting.

The prime minister told him he would look into his claims.

Earlier, Mr Deharr was served a show-cause notice for violating party discipline and asked to appear before a sub-committee of the party’s accountability and discipline committee.

Later speaking at the Quaid-i-Azam Business Park ground-breaking ceremony, PM Khan said the Sheikhupura project would serve as a great business opportunity for the entire country as foreign companies were likely to invest here.

He lauded the selection of an area between the business hubs of Lahore and Faisalabad for the business park and guaranteed full support of the federal government to the chief minister in completing the project at the earliest. To remove any hurdle in completing the project, the CM should maintain liaison with federal minister Hammad Azhar, he said.

Mr Khan said his government was busy reforming systems, ending red tapism and in true sense of the word ensuring ease of doing business for people. He said he had personally spearheaded the housing and construction sector during the past three months and tried to remove hurdles in smooth functioning of businesses.

Mr Khan also chaired the Ravi River Front urban development project’s steering committee meeting.

While presiding over another meeting to review health projects and efforts to contain coronavirus, the prime minister directed the relevant officials to utilise all available resources to complete the ongoing projects. Earlier, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid briefed him about the ongoing projects and the anti-Covid efforts. Mr Khan also stressed that the government must ensure strict enforcement of Covid-19 guidelines across the province during Eidul Azha and Muharram.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2020