ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan says the government is devisingpolicies for the benefit of common man.
Addressing the ceremony of achievements in 100 days of PTI government inIslamabad today, he said good intentions reap good results and thegovernment is sincere to bring real change in the lives of people.
He said the employment opportunities are being created to improve theliving conditions and standards of life for poor people.
The Prime Minister said a uniform education system will be brought into thecountry to eradicate the education apartheid. He said similarly reforms arealso being made in the health sector. A task force is working to improvethe conditions of government hospitals so that poor people avail standardhealth facilities. He said Health Cards will be given to all poor peopleacross the country.
Imran Khan said a single authority will be created to devise and implementpolicies for poverty alleviation. He said corruption leads to poverty.
The Prime Minister said this menace increases poverty in the countries asit deprives the nation of their due rights.
He said there will be no future of the country, unless the scourge ofcorruption is curtailed.
The Prime Minister said NAB is an independent institution foraccountability and its performance can be further increased.
He said the conviction rate by NAB is very low and it should be increasedto bring more perpetrators of corruption to the justice.
Imran Khan said he visited abroad to meet the immediate financial needs ofthe country and he got an overwhelming response.
He said an Asset Recovery Unit was established at the Prime Minister House.It signed MoUs with 26 countries for gaining access to informationregarding the assets of Pakistanis made abroad.
The Prime Minister said we also signed an agreement today with Switzerland.He said the information received from 26 countries reveals that 11 billiondollars of Pakistanis are stashed abroad.
He said the information on bank accounts in UAE indicates that 1 billiondollars of Pakistani are hidden there. However, the information of Iqamaholders is not available. He said Pakistanis invested 9 billion dollars inproperties in the UAE during the past some year.
The Prime Minister said the FIA so far caught fake accounts of 375 billionrupees. He said PTI government is the first government that is activelytaking steps against money laundering.
Imran Khan said the government is paying an interest of 6 billion rupeesdaily as interest on loans.
He said land worth over 300 billion rupees was retrieved by CapitalDevelopment Authority in its operations against encroachments.
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He said Punjab has recovered land of 88,000 acres from the encroachmentmafia.
Referring to growth of stunted children, the Prime Minister said a pilotproject was completed to improve the health of mothers and children and now4 million mothers and children will be given better diet to reduce stuntedgrowth from current 43 percent to 30 percent.
He said the scope of Benazir Income Support Program will be enhanced. Hesaid five billion rupees have been earmarked under Akhuwat Program toassist the poorer segments.
The Prime Minister said in order to bring the level of poverty down,special programs are being started in rural areas. He said Subsidies willbe given to small farmers in order to increase agricultural productivity aswell as improvement in socio-economic status of peasants.
He said new farm equipment will also be provided to the farmers. He said inorder to enhance exports of livestock, animals will be immunized againstdiseases like foot and mouth.
Imran Khan said the fisheries sector will be promoted. He said Pakistan hasmarine fishery as well as fresh water fishery potential.
He said the wet areas where lands cannot be utilized for agriculturalpurposes, shrimp farming businesses will be started.
Referring to shortage of water in the country, the Prime Minister saidtotal cost of paving the water courses is 140 billion rupees. This willresult in conserving a lot of water.
The Prime Minister said taxation system will be improved to increaserevenue. He said only 72,000 persons have declared their monthly incomeabove 200,000 rupees which is not a realistic figure.
Speaking at the ceremony, Advisor to Prime Minister on establishment ArbabShahzad said revolutionary steps were taken to change the working cultureof the government during this small period.
He said 18 out of 34 projects were completed while work continues on restof the projects.
He said an asset recovery unit was established that detected propertiesworth 11 billion dollars abroad and notices were issued to thousands ofpersons who are not tax filers.
Arbab Shahzad said focus was laid on brining reforms in FBR as part ofimproving the tax machinery.
