ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan says the aim of Pakistan CitizenPortal is to reach out to the people and to connect them directly with thegovernment which has the responsibility to serve them.
He made the observation during cabinet meeting in Islamabad yesterday(Tuesday).
The Prime Minister and the Cabinet members appreciated the performance ofPakistan Citizen Portal and directed that greater awareness should becreated about the Portal so that the Government could serve the peoplebetter and improve governance structure in the country.
The cabinet was informed that Federal Government is leading the provincialgovernments in redressal of citizen complaints received at Prime Minister’sPakistan Citizen Portal.
Pakistan Citizen Portal, inaugurated by Prime Minister on 28th October lastyear is first largest citizen engagement initiative in the history of thecountry.
The entire system was locally developed at zero cost. The portal is linkedto all provincial governments with one-click access to over 7000 governmentoffices.
The Cabinet was informed that the Portal was short-listed in 4646 mobileapplications of 87 countries and the platform got global recognition as 2ndbest service delivery application during World Government Summit held inDubai in February this year.
So far 1.173 million users have registered themselves on the portal and thenumber also includes 4000 foreigners. Province-wise data reflects 568,000users from Punjab, 284,000 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 137,000 from Sindh,35,000 from Islamabad, 12000 from Balochistan, 7000 from AJ&K and 1000 userfrom Gilgit Baltistan are registered on the Portal.
A report presented to the Cabinet states that the Federal Governmentresolved 509,153 complaints out of 553,125 achieving resolution rate of 92%.
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In Punjab 392,292 complaints were resolved with 88% redressal rate. KhyberPakhtunkhwa secured 87% on the score card by resolving 100635 out of 116050complaints. In Islamabad 9,909 complaints were resolved out of 11137.Balochistan Government resolved 6166 complaints out of 7782 securing 79%redressal rate.
The Sindh government, however, lagged behind all other governments withmerely 40% redressal rate and could only resolve 38,268 complaints out of95894 received at Pakistan Citizen Portal.
Out of 37029 complaints which were pending since more than 90 days, 84%complaints pertain to Sindh government.
On the basis of the nature and feedback received from the citizens, variouspolicy initiatives were taken to facilitate the people of the country.These policy initiatives include, among others, enforcement of SOPs forfacilitation of persons with missing finger prints, exemption of overseasPakistanis from withholding tax, payment of outstanding stipends to over29000 interns who were hired by the previous government but were not paid,and facilitation of females and persons with disabilities.
Strict action was taken and senior level officers were taken to task fordereliction of duty upon complaints. A DG of CDA was suspended on acomplaint filed by a citizen. In Punjab high ranking police officers wereeither suspended or made OSDs. Chief Secretary Punjab show-caused 2 DeputyCommissioners, warning letters were issued to 03 Deputy Commissioners, 03Assistant Commissioners were suspended, 20 ACs were issued displeasureletters and explanations were sought from other senior officers of variousdepartments.
Various success stories include provision of assistance to the citizens incases of non-cooperation from government officials and offices, actionagainst high-handedness of police officials, recovery of abductees,blackmailing, taking action against police officials who had colluded withculprits involved in rape of a girl, and bringing back of a Pakistanicitizen who was stuck in Saudi Arabia due to bankruptcy of the company.
Efforts were also afoot to institutionalize the system and create greaterawareness among public about the facility. Efforts were also being made tostop misuse, blackmailing and mala fide through implementation of Citizen’sResponsibility Index.
