Pakistan on path of becoming Medina like welfare state: Farrukh

ISLAMABAD: On completion of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) three years in government, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Wednesday cherished Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision enabling fast transformation of Pakistan into a welfare state on pattern of Medina.

“Pakistan is on track of becoming a Medina like welfare state under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he said in a news statement while taking pride of the initiatives like Panagahs (Shelter Homes) and Langar Khanay (Food Centres).

He said it was first time in the history of Pakistan that the government was taking ownership of poor and needy by operating shelter homes and food centres across the country.

Downtrodden and less privileged segments of the society were being steered out of poverty through Ehsaas programme like projects.

Farrukh said the Ehsaas Programme’s financial volume had been increased to Rs260 billion so that maximum number of poor people could reap its benefits.

Highlighting a number of achievements made by the PTI government in different sectors during the last three years, he said the country was on the path of development and prosperity due to prudent policies and wise decision of the prime minister. People were bearing fruits of relentless efforts made by Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team for welfare and betterment of the society, he added.

As regards to achievements made on economic front, he said the Gross Domestic Product has been registering growth for the last couple of years due to efforts of the prime minister’s economic team. The economic growth was recorded at four percent in the last fiscal year, he added.

The PTI government was inherited with a country which was on the brink of economic default, he said, adding now the country’s exports stood at 25.3 billion dollars. The minister said large scale manufacturing increased by 14.3 per cent, which eventually led to overall economic growth.

Foreign exchange reserves, exports and remittances were at the highest level of the last three years. He said remittances exceeded from 29.4 billion dollars, while foreign exchange reserves, which rose to seven billion dollars in 2018-19, now crossed 17 billion dollars mark.

Farrukh said foreign exchange inflows from the overseas Pakistanis through the Roshan Digital account had crossed 2 billion dollars mark in a short span of 11 months. It reflected the confidence posed by Pakistani expatriates in PM Imran Khan.

Commenting on the socio-economic development of youth and poverty alleviation, he said soft loans amounting to over Rs15 billion was disbursed among 13,000 budding entrepreneurs under the Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme, while Kamyab Pakistan was launched to pull over six million families out of pauperdom.

During the last 3 years, he said the PTI government had made impossible to possible by launching those projects and programmes which could not be implemented in the country’s 71-year history.

Commercial and residential projects with an investment of Rs1,000 billion had been approved, he said, adding applications for low-cost houses worth Rs145 billion were approved, while loans amounting to Rs45 billion had also been approved. He said it would not only generate economic activity of Rs4,100 billion in 120 allied industries, but also help create a total of 700,000 jobs in the country.

Farrukh said so far, 20,000 low-cost housing units had been completed, while the Naya Pakistan Housing Development Authority shortlisted multiple housing projects for construction of 70,000 units. “PM Imran Khan is the only leader in Pakistan who is working on long term projects for future generations,” he remarked while highlighting the government’s those projects which were aimed at mitigating water scarcity in the country.

He said work on several water projects including Diamer Bhasha Dam, Dasu hydropower, Mohmand Dam, Sindh Barrage, Huripur Power Project, Kachhi Canal, K-IV Water Supply, Kurram Tangi and Nai Gaj dams was in full swing. Completion of those ten projects would not only ensure water reserves of 12.89 million acre feet, but also increase generation of inexpensive hydropower in the country by 9,043 megawatt (MW), he added.

The minister said it would also create more than 35,000 job opportunities in the country. “The Health Insaf Card is our government’s flagship project,” he said while mentioning health related schemes launched in the past three years. He said the card had been provided to the entire population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas people of Punjab would get the facility this year.

Farrukh said while the coronavirus had rattled the world economies, it had less impact on the country thanks to the Almighty Allah and timely and wise decision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said the pandemic was dealt in an effective manner by the National Command and Operation Centre, where the provincial governments coordinated in an unprecedented way during the last 500 days.

The world was recognizing the government’s tree planting campaigns and eco-friendly initiatives, aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, the minister concluded.