[Inter]national community: First overseas Pakistanis conference starts today

Minister says a commission for expats is also on the cards.

LAHORE:

As many as 400 delegate are expected to participate in the first overseas Pakistanis’ convention which will open on Monday (today).

These delegates are community leaders representing 5 million Pakistani expatriates in various countries and represent business organisations and social societies of overseas Pakistanis.

Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan said selection of delegates was made regardless of political affiliation. He was addressing a press conference as the chairman of the cabinet committee assigned the task for supervising the convention.



Minister for Prisons Abdul Waheed Araeen, MPA Mian Tariq Mahmood and Secretary to Chief Minister on Political Affairs Muhammad Afzaal Bhatti were also present.

Khan said the convention was a chance for community leaders of overseas Pakistanis to assemble in Lahore to interact with the government.

He said it would allow the government to have a better understanding of their problems. He said on the recommendations of the conventions, the government would evolve a plan aimed for the welfare of overseas Pakistanis, primarily those from Punjab.

“The deliberations of convention will help us address complaints of Pakistani expatriates which fall within the domain of the provincial government,” he said.

He said legislation for establishment of the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission was on the cards.

He said the commission would facilitate expatriates in settling problems related to property disputes, employment hindrances, false criminal cases due to family disputes, financial disputes, travel agents and airline-related cases, bank-related matters and cooperative societies claims. He said the commission would forward all complaints related to provincial government departments to the concerned departments and would be followed up on.

He said regular progress reports would be submitted to the chief minister on these.

“All departments will appoint an officer at the level of an additional secretary as the focal person for redress of complaints related to overseas Pakistanis,” he said.

He said police and the Board of Revenue would appoint an officer on the level of an additional inspector general and a member of the Board of Revenue respectively to deal with the complaints of overseas Pakistanis and monitor their progress.

He said committees would be set up in all districts in this regard. He said these committees would comprise district coordination officers, district police officers and the additional district collector.

To a question, Khan said an IT-based system had been developed by the Punjab Information Technology Board to receive online complaints and suggestions of the overseas Pakistani residents of the Punjab and recommendations of delegates of the first overseas Pakistanis convention would be made an integral part of the complaints redressal system.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2014.