Right to public services: ‘PTI committed to good governance’

PESHAWAR:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government is committed to facilitating the general public and maintaining good governance, stated Arif Yousaf, one of the CM’s advisers. 

Yousaf said this at an awareness seminar on the K-P Right to Public Services Act 2014. The programme was held on Monday by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in collaboration with the Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA) at a local hotel. He added good governance was the reason the party was introducing certain laws and launching awareness campaigns.

PTI has introduced several laws to improve public service delivery, said the adviser. It is the provincial government’s prime objective to improve transparency and accountability in state functions, added Yousaf. “Access to public services is a basic human right and the K-P government is committed to providing it at the doorstep of the masses.”

K-P chief secretary Amjad Ali Khan said enacting the K-P Right to Public Services Act 2014 meant government officials were bound to deliver without any delay. “When officials facilitate the general public, it will show they are no longer incompetent,” he said.

PSC Chief Commissioner, Azmat Hanif Orakzai pointed out a study that revealed Malakand’s residents had approached the Taliban for help in the past as they were unhappy with public servants. “Government officials must fulfil their role of public servants,” he asserted.

Orakzai added public service delivery will be improved; people will be able to obtain land and domicile certificates within seven days, building plans in 24 days, birth/death certificates in one day and on the spot registration of FIRs.

The district monitoring assistants will oversee performance of public service providers, he said. CGPA Executive Director Muhammad Anwar said it was essential to improve public service delivery to improve law and order.

Several participants, including patwaris, secretaries of union councils and other officials, expressed their reservations over the service provision timelines, asking that deadlines be extended.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2014.