4k rural revenue centres to open next week

One-window e-service facilities providing all services at tehsil level

LAHORE:

Out of the planned 8,000 rural revenue centre of Punjab government, over 1,130 are functioning currently, while the number will increase to about 4,000 from January 3.

Provincial government spokesperson Hasaan Khawar said while briefing the media along with Senior Member of Board of Revenue (SMBR) Babar Hayat Tarar said the 4,000 rural revenue centres would be set up five months ahead of the targeted date.

He said the purpose of the centres was to provide services to the people at their doorsteps.

He said 1,139 centres were already functioning, while about 4,000 would be operational from January 3.

Hasaan Khawar said that instead of spending billions of rupees on the project, the government had thriftily used its existing infrastructure and facilities for the purpose.

He said one-window e-service centres at the tehsil level were providing all services to the people under one roof, while reducing the chances of fraud at the same time.

He said the Revenue Courts Management System, which had been neglected for a long time, had been made functional to assess and minimise the backlog of cases. In the period from April to December, the number of pending cases dropped from 117,000 to 63,000.

Out of the 441 cases pending before in the SMBR, only two cases remain unconcluded.

Answering a question, the spokesperson said action had been taken against 400 employees of the revenue department over their involvement in corruption and 150 of them had been sacked.

He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had increased the country’s revenue through austerity measures and efficient economic reforms unlike previous regimes. He alleged that the opposition’s politics revolved around negativity, conspiracies and deals, turning a blind eye to “flourishing economy and the government’s public welfare schemes”.

He said improvements in the governance model were part of PTI’s manifesto and the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had introduced revolutionary measures in education, health, local government, police and other important institutions. Reforms had also been introduced in the revenue department on a priority basis, he said.

Khawar said the opposition should have a viable economic plan apart from simply criticising the mini-budget. He said the local body elections would be held on time.

He also said that Punjab’s system of local bodies would empower the representatives unlike a ‘toothless’ system of Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2021.