Weeks before the general elections 2018, Imran Khan unveiled his party’s much-awaited manifesto that carried an elaborate plan to transform the country into “Naya Pakistan” — a term that doubled the successful campaign.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan presented on Thursday its three-year performance report, reviewing its achievements in realms of governance, economy and foreign policy.
The PTI government launched a number of projects and also set in place the instruments required for the fulfillment of some of its promises at the national, and in some cases, even provincial levels. However, progress on some promises is still stuck in its initial stages or has been marred with delays.
The govt’s three-year performance report
The Report 2018-21, compiled by the Ministry of Information under the patronage of its head Fawad Chaudhry, focuses on the accomplishments the government has made despite the global economic recession in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
The 251-page report gives an outline of the achievements of 44 public bodies including ministries, divisions and departments, through infographics and relevant facts and figures.
During its three-year in power, PTI-led government claimed to have completed 19,000 low-cost housing units while 45,000 are under construction.
To uplift common man, the government launched the projects such as Naya Pakistan Housing Programme for affordable accommodation to low-income groups, Ehsaas programme for social security and the Kamyab Jawan Programme for imparting skills to youth to help them get employment.
In the domain of legislation, 54 laws were enacted including the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2020, Enforcement of Women Property Rights Act, 2020, and Legal Aid and Justice Authority Act, 2020 to help poor and vulnerable segments of society.
“When we assumed power, the current account deficit was $20billion and now it is $1.8bn. Our foreign currency reserves were $16.4bn when we assumed power and today they are at $27bn. Our tax collection was Rs3800bn three years ago and now it has reached Rs4700bn.
He also mentioned his government’s social uplift schemes such as Kamyab Pakistan and Ehsaas Program, saying that the latter was rated “third best in the world” by the World Bank.
Promises that aren’t fulfilled yet
KARACHI: “We want to make Karachi the urban jewel of Pakistan,” the PTI stated in its manifesto, while announcing a number of steps towards transforming the metropolis.
However, work on promises to end Karachi’s water mafia and to champion the development of a desalination plant in the metropolis for clean drinking water has “not started” yet.
SOUTH PUNJAB: Apart from the establishment of secretariats, PM Imran in April approved a plan for the development of South Punjab as a separate administrative zone.
FM Qureshi has also called on PPP and PML-N politicians from South Punjab to help the government establish the new province and form political consensus in this regard.
Days earlier, the foreign minister had announced that a bill for the creation of the new province would be tabled in the National Assembly. With a lot of work yet to be done, this promise is still “in progress”.
CLIMATE CHANGE: One of the hallmark projects of the PTI government over the past three years has been the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami drive, which was expanded from the Billion Tree Tsunami project launched in KP in 2015.
With considerable work done to launch the programme in many parts of the country, we rate the promise as “partially complete”.
GIRLS’ EDUCATION: Pertaining to girls’ education, the party had promised to provide stipends to secondary school-going girls and to prioritise the establishment and upgradation of girls’ schools.
Structured along the lines of the Ehsaas stipend policy, a higher amount is allocated for girls as compared to boys. Since the handouts in KP and tribal areas are yet to begin, the work on this promise remains “in progress”.
