New districts in Punjab soon: CM

LAHORE: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar presided over a meeting at Civil Secretariat in which steps taken for providing better services to the people as well as ensuring good governance were reviewed.

Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that setting up of new districts was being reviewed across the province on administrative grounds and a special committee had been constituted under the chair of chief secretary which would deliberate on setting up of new districts.

He vowed that marked improvements in good governance and public service delivery mechanism would be introduced adding that police and administrative officers were the helping hands of the government. He said that police and administration should ensure a strong liaison with the people and public representatives for providing better services, ensuring good governance and solution of problems.

The chief minister reiterated that improving the public sector hospitals was the government’s top priority. He made it clear that a real change would be ensured by making police, healthcare and education sectors better than the best.

Unlike the previous traditions, police and administration were politically independent and free in decision making. Such an example of liberalising the administration and the police is unique and unprecedented, he maintained. Service delivery will start improving conspicuously with better public dealing. DCs and DPOs are part of my team and I will be standing with the officers serving the people, he added. He said that the government was to provide relief to the poor and needy segments of the society in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The change will have to be materialised and this change should be visible through good governance mechanism so that other provinces give the examples of Punjab. He said that DC and DPO should be on the same page and added that non-cooperative attitude will never be tolerated.

Police and administration should jointly perform in an honest manner so as to give the best service delivery and to achieve good results. The impact of improved public dealing of administration and police is more durable and lasting than the development projects, he added.

He said that Punjab would be transformed as a model province with regard to good governance. Usman Buzdar said that he would personally monitor the service delivery standards by visiting the whole of the province without prior information and latest IT system would also be utilised to understand the people’s problems and to maintain a direct liaison with them. Chief Secretary gave a detailed briefing to the chief minister about different steps taken for improved good governance and public service delivery. He also directed the officers to have better access to the people. He said that DCs, DPOs and department heads should regularly hold open courts in the districts while Commissioners and RPOs would also attend the open courts of their respective districts. Revenue department should adopt all possible measures to give relief to the people, he added.

The IG police maintained that a good civil servant always remains neutral and concerted efforts of police and administration yields positive results. Only those societies achieve success where police perform according to law. Commissioners, RPOs, DCs and DPOs also presented various proposals for bringing improvements in good governance and public service delivery. The chief minister assured to implement the feasible proposals.