Dos and don’ts of PTI 100-day govt

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government pledged to fulfil 48 promises in the first 100 days agenda of its rule out of which 11 were fulfilled but the government could not start implementation on 12 promises.

There are four promises which were partially implemented and 21 were in the process during the first 100 days of the PTI government. The PTI government could not achieve any major achievement on the economic front except getting $1 billion from Saudi Arabia out of $3 billion commitment to build up foreign currency reserves. Saudi Arabia also made commitment to provide oil facility on deferred payment up to $3 billion.

However, the government could not secure financial package from IMF, China, the UAE and Malaysia, although, talks were underway with the IMF for another bailout package. The government could not introduce any major reforms in the FBR and the tax machinery was facing a shortfall of over Rs60 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year. The budget deficit exceeded 1.4 percent of GDP in the first quarter (July-Sept) period of current fiscal against 1.2 percent in the same period of the last fiscal year. Inflation is on rising trend as the CPI based inflation has gone up to 6.78 percent for October. The tracking of PTI promises in the first 100 days shows that the government fulfilled its commitment to establish a task force to recover the looted money in order to root out corruption. The government granted right of vote to overseas Pakistanis, imposed ban on first class travel on PM and President, abolished discretionary funds, auctioned vehicles and buffalos of PM House, launched ten new trains of Pakistan Railways, established complaint redressal cell at the PM House, established gender based court, started cases’ hearing at night shift and issued health cards.

There are four promises which were implemented partially including implementation of policy framework to build 5 million housing units, rural electrification through renewable and off grid solutions, opened all government guesthouses for public and established Disability Resource Center in each district.

There are 21 pledges made by the PTI on which the progress was underway including answering parliamentarians' queries in PM's Question Hour, revamping of livestock sector, expanding meat production, reviving manufacturing and facilitating rapid growth of SME sector, launching special assistance programmes for differently-abled persons, introducing 2 percent job quota for differently-abled persons, establishing at least 10 technical universities, building state-of-the-art hospitals in major urban centres, launching 10 billion tree tsunami programme to restore forests, expediting the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam and feasibility studies for others, building small dams to fulfill local demand, developing 20 new tourist destinations, creating 10 million jobs in 5 years, championing the development of financial instruments to attract overseas Pakistanis' investment, augmenting the existing BISP programme, launching a special drive to improve access to sanitation and clean drinking water, developing national consensus on the creation of South Punjab province, enhancing the capacity of Karachi’s mass transit system, championing the development of desalination plant in Karachi for clean drinking water, making PBC and state-run TV autonomous, making Pemra autonomous, establishing juvenile detention centres, prisons for women, working with the judiciary for rapid dispensation of backlog of cases, publishing names of non-compliant debtors, strongly pursuing large tax evaders, making public outreach to police easier and establishing a whistle-blower programme.

There are 12 promises on which the PTI could not start implementation in first 100 days of its agenda including launching a nationwide literacy programme, creating an education fund for young entrepreneurs, allocating housing units to persons with disabilities, giving Parliament the authority to ratify international treaties, exposing links between active and passive terrorists, providing stipends to secondary school-going girls, establishing quotas for women in local government and boards of public bodies, prioritising establishment and upgradation of girls’ schools, enacting structural reform to establish National Commission on Minorities, launching crackdown on Karachi's water mafia and establishing women police stations and desks at all levels.