KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the only way to make the country’s system strong is to transfer the power to the grassroots level.
While addressing the media at the Governor’s House Karachi, the prime minister said that the government had “no objection” to the 18th Amendment but that it was essential to review some of its points that were “included in a hurry”.
PM Imran said that after the 18th Amendment, the powers were transferred to the provinces. “It is unfortunate that the provinces did not transfer power at a lower level that resulted in problems,” PM remarked.
He maintained issues faced by the people of Karachi and Lahore can only be resolved by giving powers to the lower level and by holding direct elections.
The premier claimed that the local government system the PTI would bring in the next elections would be “the best in the world”, adding that it was the PTI that devolved power and empowered village councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, making it the first province to do so.
He highlighted that funds will be provided to councils and districts so that they could be used to provide basic facilities to the people. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, PM Khan mentioned that some elements are politicizing the COVID-19 outbreak for their own gains.
“We took the entire country’s interests into consideration. We developed a system whereby the chief ministers of all the provinces could discuss the situation every day. Authorities know where the COVID-19 hotspots are and will enforce a smart lockdown in those areas,” he said.
He added that the federal government looked at national interest when proceeding against the COVID-19 epidemic. Citing the example of India, PM said that they had to lift restrictions as people were dying of hunger and of the virus”.
“Pakistan is the only country to strike a balance between both […] 34pc of the people in India went below the poverty line, he added.
Speaking about the ongoing locust attack in different parts of the country, PM Imran said that an emergency has been declared since January 31 regarding locusts attack. He said locusts could attack fields again in July.
The premier said that the government had allocated resources to deal with the attacks without considering [the different] responsibilities of the Centre and provinces.
He admitted, that all planes for locust spray from the 1990s were old and dysfunctional. “The government takes all decisions while taking all stakeholders into confidence, the PM said.
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