Two-years of PTI, Naya Pakistan still a dream?

The incumbent government has completed its two years and that is usually the time when people stop giving any allowance for the newness of the government and expect solid delivery on the promises made by the ruling party.

Performance has been the cornerstone of Imran Khan’s campaign for prime ministership. He gave special attention to the preparation of his party’s election manifesto and explained in detail its various aspects at a well-attended seminar in Islamabad at the start of the election campaign.

Imran Khan’s first 100 Days Agenda

PM Imran Khan then came up with another instrument, not used by any other political party of Pakistan earlier; of capsuling the initial party plans in ‘Imran Khan’s first 100 Days Agenda’ and launched it with a lot of fanfare.

Once in power, a special cell in the Prime Minister’s Office was created to monitor the progress on the implementation of the 100 Days Agenda and to periodically place the findings online for all to see. A party enthusiast even established a ‘Khan Meter’ to independently monitor the progress on social media.

A debate on the PTI government’s performance in the first 100 days was promoted by the party itself by presenting a report at a media event despite the fact that the government did not have any landmark achievement to show except for the formation of over 50 task forces and committees to do preparatory work on its programme.

International organizations have acknowledged that Pakistan is moving towards economic stability, but inflation has not eased. The declining global price of petrol, which had gone up to zero, could not be taken advantage of. The petrol mafia in Pakistan has ruined the lives of the people.

Inflation and the role of various mafias

The public at large has been squarely hit by the rampant inflation as the Consumer Price Index jumped to 14.6 percent in January due to an increase in food and energy cost.

The premier blamed his predecessors and hoarders for the surge in the prices of essential commodities across the country.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had pledged to award exemplary punishment to all those found guilty in the in-depth probe into the flour sugar and petrol price hikes.

He said that the nation should rest assured that all those responsible will be held accountable and penalized after an in-depth probe into the sugar and flour price hikes. He further said that the government is taking various measures to reduce prices of basic food items for the common man

In a single month, the headline inflation increased by two percent, which was quite alarming at a time when people’s wages were shrinking. This is for the first time in recent years that the headline inflation reading has surpassed the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) key policy rate of 13.25 percent.

The core inflation, calculated after excluding energy and food prices, increased in both urban as well as rural areas last month. Still, the government has failed to tackle the mafia that is heating up its pockets by taking advantage of the supply and demand principle.

Ehsaas programme

PTI government has launched the ‘Ehsaas program’ for the alleviation of poverty from the country which is the biggest program for the downtrodden of society ever launched in Pakistan.

The Ehasaas program being run by Dr. Sania Nishtar is the epitome of empathy and equality that lies at the core of PM  Imran Khan’s vision.

There are multiple initiatives that are comforting the underprivileged include, including the Panahgahs (200 sites, 1500+ meals daily), Sehat Sahulat Program (10 million provided with Insaf Cards) and a lot more along with this on complete merit.

Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme

PTI government has also launched the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme on July 15, 2019. This project of Pakistan government to provide 5 million houses to the homeless people of the country. Under this scheme, homes will be provided to poor Pakistanis on easy installments.

Model Langar Khana

The incumbent government inaugurated the Model Langar Khana in Islamabad on 07, October 2019, one of the projects of the government’s Model Programme that aims to combat hunger throughout the country.

Shelter home Programme

The government introduced a shelter home program near the railway station in Lahore on 10, November 2018. Those shelter homes will provide a roof to poor people.

Billion Tree Programme

The PTI government had launched the Billion Tree Tsunami program in the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)  in 2014, Pakistan, as a response to the challenge of global warming.

Pakistan’s Billion Tree Tsunami restores 350,000 hectares of forests and degraded land to surpass its Billion tree Challenge commitment. After winning General Election 2018, the PTI government had again restored the Billion Tree program.

The Government had said that it will expand and restore the fractured forests of Pakistan through a ’10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ spread over 5 years under principles of true forest valuation, community.

Foreign Policy

PM Imran Khan and the diplomacy of  Shah Mehmood Qureshi has won on the international front, gaining economic-political benefits for Pakistan. Today we have cordial relations with the US, where we’ll not participate in any war but will always be ready to facilitate any peace talks. We’ve been interacting with China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Malaysia, Iran and also Russia. 

Kartarpur Corridor

The PTI government particularly Prime Minister Imran Khan was quite hopeful for peace with India. Hence Prime Minister Imran Khan formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor on 09, November 2019, paving the way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their religion’s holiest sites in Pakistan without needing a visa.

Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed all Sikh pilgrims who all over the world came in Pakistan to attend Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.

Pakistan responded to the pandemic

The year 2020 came with a lot of unpredictability and is continuing to be a global challenge with COVID-19. PM Imran Khan’s smart lockdown approach to minimize hunger and unemployment during the pandemic crisis now being applauded at national and international levels.

Pakistan responded to the pandemic with a proactive approach. In a short span of four months, Pakistan has large-scale production of sanitizers & PPEs. Efforts on the frontline in setting up quarantine centers, hospitals in record time are playing a crucial role in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The positive image is portrayed globally

In the wake of 2020 and the economic condition of Pakistan, the govt’s performance is constructive and progressive with a positive image being portrayed globally. 

Definitely this short duration is not enough to bring some kind of revolution in the country which is plagued by the issues of bad governance, mismanagement, corruption and law and order. When it comes to improvement, given the state of affairs PTI inherited, there’s still a lot to be fixed.