Radio gaga: Turn up the mic, it’s the CM speaking

Khattak praises steps taken for ‘common people’

PESHAWAR: From 11am to noon, the chief minister was busy fielding questions from callers in Thursday’s live programme ‘Talk to Pervez Khattak’ at Pakhtunkhwa Radio FM92.2.

Talking to the media after the programme, Khattak said K-P’s masses, especially middle and lower income groups, were satisfied with the performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government.

According to a handout issued Thursday evening, Khattak said people had seen previous regimes and could tell the difference in how PTI and its coalition partners ran matters.

He criticised the elite, saying they could not see the change in K-P because they had no knowledge about the problems faced by the public for whom the government had taken significant steps.

“We improved the police, patwarkhana and schools—among other things—for the people,” Khattak said. He said those living in palaces were not happy with these steps because their homes are built on theft from government departments and the exchequer.

The chief minister added the government “gets a better idea about our performance through the opinion of the common man.”

Earlier on air, Khattak said the agenda of his government was based on change and its steps had provided much-needed relief. He said 80% of Peshawar’s schemes for beautification, cleanliness, road construction, drainage system repair and streetlights had been completed.

Direct lines

He urged the audience to inform the CM complaint cell of any misconduct on behalf of government departments. “These complaints will not be thrown into the bin and action will be taken.”

Khattak said increasing government employee salaries is in the books as they believed it helped root out corruption. He said the proposal may be difficult to implement due to financial constraints, but “the government will not shy away from eliminating corruption.”

On power outages, the chief minister told people they have refused to accept Peshawar Electric Supply Company’s load-shedding schedule. He said the Centre had been asked to provide K-P with its complete share and decrease power outages to half.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2015.