The Federal Ministers , at a media briefing , spoke about the performance of their ministries and said that two years of the PTI government had been depressing for those who were spreading misinformation among people.
“It is our democratic duty to inform the people about our performance,” Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz said.
He said that fifth generation warfare aimed to create chaos and despair in the country and the opposition parties were following this trend to create frustration and depression among people.
“People are with us. We will thwart all conspiracies. The good news for the nation is actually bad news for the opposition,” Senator Faraz said.
He added that Prime Minister Imran Khan had made it clear once again that the rule of law would be ensured in the country where the era of prosperity had begun as positive results (of government policies) were coming around.
Two-year performance of ministries highlighted
Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said that the prime minister’s vision was to strive for accountability, transparency, merit and self-reliance.
Read: PTI's two-year record
He said the Ministry of Communications was promoting e-technology to ensure transparency and had saved around Rs750 million through austerity measures. All procurements by the National Highway Authority (NHA) would be made through e-procurements, he added.
Mr Saeed said that with the focus on increasing revenue for self-reliance, 48.2 per cent more work had been done on highway projects while revenue of the NHA had been enhanced from Rs53 billion to Rs103bn in three years. An amount of Rs12.56bn has been recovered in terms of stuck-up amount of the past.
The minister said the communications ministry had adopted public-private partnership strategy to promote projects of Sialkot-Rawalpindi and Chaman-Quetta highways and six other projects were being launched under this mode. He said that revolutionary measures had been taken in the postal services.
Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that 0.62pc of GDP was allocated for science and technology in 2008 and it was further reduced to 0.24pc when the PTI took charge.
He blamed the PPP and the PML-N governments for failing to invest in basic and applied sciences. “We were not even manufacturing hand sanitisers and face masks when coronavirus pandemic hit the world and now Pakistan is one of the major exporters of personal protective equipment. We would be exporting ventilators soon.”
He said that engineering degrees of Pakistan were now recognised all over the world and scientific approach had been adopted in agriculture sector.
Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Dr Fahmida Mirza highlighted the performance of her ministry, including formation of the Council of Common Interests within 30 days of formation of the PTI government.
Minister for Energy Omer Ayub said that the most serious challenge for the country was to change the energy mix to reduce dependence on imported oil and enhance the share of indigenous resources, including renewable and hydro power, up to 70pc by 2030. He said that the cost of generation of renewable energy had been cut down to 3.75 cents per units as compared to around 12 and 13 cents per unit in the past.
“We are promoting transfer of technology in renewable energy in both solar and wind power and are looking for export in this sector in near future,” Mr Ayub said, “Besides the efforts made by PM Imran Khan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have saved Pakistan $1.2bn (around Rs200bn) in the Karkay case.”
Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda spoke about the launch of several water projects, including Mohmand dam, Diamer-Bhasha dam and around 112 small dams across the country. He said that it was for the first time after Ayub Khan’s government of 1960s that water projects had been undertaken in the country.
Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari stressed that the issue of human rights was central to policy making of the government and her ministry had adopted a three-pronged approach to implement existing laws, introduce new legislation where there were gaps in the existing laws and impart knowledge about human rights laws to the public, especially women.
Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi and Special Assistant to the PM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar also addressed the media briefing.
