First anniversary: LHC to be asked to set up special bench for expats

CM says one-window facility to be set up in districts with large expat population


Our Correspondent August 16, 2016
The chief minister said speeches, slogan mongering and poetry recitals alone could not change the destiny of a nation. PHOTO: INP

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that a one-window facility would be set up in districts with large populations of overseas Pakistanis.

He said government departments and authorities would be required to set up their desks at the facility. This would let overseas Pakistanis to get their grievances redressed under a single roof.

Sharif said the government would approach the High Court and request it to consider establishment of separate benches to hear cases filed by overseas Pakistanis. He directed Law Minister Rana Sanaullah to contact the High Court for the purpose.

He expressed these views at a ceremony held to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of the Overseas Pakistanis Commission Punjab.  The chief minister, also the chairman of the commission, said overseas Pakistanis were ambassadors of the country. He praised the commission for its efficient operations. He said if all state institutes started performing their responsibilities with the level of commitment shown by the OPC the country’s fate would transform in a few weeks.

Sharif said the commission’s work was helping to strengthen the country’s economy. He thanked the OPC team for working day in and day out to address thousands of complaints received from overseas Pakistanis.

He said complete elimination of corruption was not possible even in countries like Britain, United States and Norway. However, he said, these countries had established supremacy of the law. The law should be allowed to take its course and no one should dare intervene or influence the process, he said.

The chief minister said work on a number of development projects was underway in the province. He said the government was ensuring transparency in use of funds for projects like the 3,600 megawatts gas-based power plants. He said eight years ago, a Guddu gas plant with similar production capacity had been set up at a cost of $900,000 per megawatt but the PML-N led government was completing the project at $450,000 per megawatt. The government had been successful in saving Rs120 billion by cutting down on cost of several projects.

The chief minister said he hoped that the first phase of 3,600 megawatt power plant in Bhikki would start production in March next year. Sharif said that the country was facing a number of problems and collective efforts were needed to solve them. “This is difficult but not impossible,” he said. He said the nation could change its destiny by adopting Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s principles of hard work, honesty and commitment. He said if Jinnah had lived for another seven to eight years, Pakistan would have been much ahead of India today. “Unfortunately, he left us too soon and we are still looking for a leader like him,” he said.

The chief minister said speeches, slogan mongering and poetry recitals alone could not change the destiny of a nation. Practical efforts were needed to overcome the challenges, he said. He said the establishment of the OPC Punjab was an example of that.

Earlier, OPC Commissioner Afzaal Bhatti briefed the gathering about the commission’s performance in its first year. He said they had received about 4,000 complaints. Of these, 2,000 had so far been addressed, he said.

The ceremony concluded with the distribution of shields and commendatory certificates among OPC Punjab members, provincial government officers and heads of committees of five districts for their outstanding performance.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2016.

 

COMMENTS (1)

Disgusting | 7 years ago | Reply Mr Chief Minister Punjab, we would also like you to request CJ LHC to punish those who killed 14 Lahoris and injured 100 on your orders in Modal Town Lahore. I am sure this is on your mind already. Please include Rana Sana name too.
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ