PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Tuesday emphasised the need for establishing smaller provinces and administrative units for better governance and service delivery.
“The large administrative setups hinder effective management, whereas smaller units would resolve up to 90 percent of administrative issues and address public grievances at grassroots level,” he told a delegation of the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF). Led by YPF president Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, the delegation was comprised of members from various political parties and provinces,
The chief minister urged the young parliamentarians to study international governance models and recommend the same to the government to be adopted.
About the government’s initiatives, Gandapur mentioned the establishment of regional secretariats using existing resources with the aim to improve governance and public service delivery at regional level. He stressed the importance of enhancing the country’s international credibility, which he believed had been hampered by unfulfilled commitments to global institutions. “We must work on improving our credibility to regain international trust,” he asserted.
The chief minister also pointed out the mismanagement of development priorities, which often results in resource wastage. He advocated for focusing on projects that directly benefit larger populations and can be realistically completed within set timelines. “Our government prioritizes service delivery over constructing buildings,” he said. Instead of waiting for years to construct school buildings, he said, they were opening schools in rented buildings to provide access to education immediately.
Gandapur also highlighted efforts to strengthen basic health facilities, introduce reforms in the health card system for cost efficiency, and promote girls’ education, particularly in merged districts, where 100 percent scholarships were being provided.
On infrastructure development, he noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has vast potential in hydropower and shared that work is underway on 800mw projects in the province, and added that the provincial government was also establishing its own transmission lines to provide low-cost electricity to industries to create maximum employment opportunities.
About security challenges, he acknowledged the sacrifices of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s people, especially in merged districts, in the fight against terrorism. Despite limited federal support for rehabilitating war-torn areas, the provincial government was utilising its resources to restore infrastructure in the merged districts. The Chief Minister informed that his government had established a debt management fund with a fund of Rs50 billion to strengthen provincial institutions financially.
Gandapur termed corruption as a big challenge of Pakistan, and highlighted the need of such a system where there is no room for corruption. “We need a framework that blocks all avenues for corruption,” he said.
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