Govt focusing on transparency in its affairs: Musadik

ISLAMABAD, Aug 29 (APP): Special Assistant to the Prime Minister
Dr Musadik Malik on Tuesday said the government was focusing on
transparency in its affairs, planning, human capital and environmental protection.
Addressing a press conference here, he said transparency in
governance was a prerequisite to eliminate the menace of corruption
from the society.
He said the main objective of his interaction with media persons
was to inform the public about the day to day activities and engagements
of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Since taking over the office, he said, the prime minister had
chaired several meetings, including Federal Cabinet, the Council of
Common Interests and the Standing Committee on Eradication of Polio,
taking decisions on important national issues.
He said Prime Minister Abbasi also chaired the meeting of
Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), besides inaugurating a
liquefied natural gas terminal at Karachi Port.
He said the prime minister attached high priority to
human resource development and public welfare, and directed
the departments and ministries concerned to every possible step in
that regard.
He said the Bureau of Statistics was an independent organization,
which in collaboration with the Pakistan Army conducted the population
census operation in a transparent manner.
The country, he said, was divided into different blocks to conduct
the house hold survey whereas the whole process was supervised by
assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners at tehsil and district levels. Both the officials, he said, were the representatives
of provincial governments.
Moreover, different committees were also constituted to
supervise the census work in order to compile authentic data for
policy formulation, he added.
He said training process of the census staff and hiring of
other supporting staff was also completed by the administrative
officers of the provincial governments.
Musadik Malik said army personnel were also deputed for the
security of teams as well as compiling data separately to make the
process more authentic and credible.
He said demarcation of urban or rural areas was not the
mandate of the PBS, which was carried out by the provincial
governments through local bodies.
He said the PBS had not yet presented its final report. There
might be a difference of 1-2 per cent in the figures in the plenary
and final reports, he added.
He said the provinces could raise their queries about the
census with the PBS for their satisfaction.
Dr Musadik Malik said the ECC, which met here with the prime
minister in the chair, approved release of two-month salaries for
the employees of Pakistan Still Mills.
The ECC, he said, also tasked the Higher Education Commission
to take appropriate measures for enhancing the quality and standard
of the education in universities. It was aimed at raising the ranking
of Pakistan universities and get them included among the top 50
institutions of the world, he added.
He said the prime minister also directed to expedite the
campaign for the eradication of polio from the country as due to
the efforts of the government so far only three cases had been
registered during the current year.
He also asked for launching campaign in high risk areas to
eliminate the disease from the country to make it a polio free
country.
He said the ECC also approved the supply of wheat to
Gilgit-Baltitstan on quarterly basis during the winter and on monthly
basis during the summer.
He said the prime minister also directed to formulate a
national water policy in order to provide clean drinking water to
the people, besides bringing parity among the rich and the poor.
The ECC, he said, also decided to introduce Euro-3 and Euro-4
standards vehicles to protect the environment.
To a question, he said the government was taking all the
stakeholders on board to formulate a comprehensive policy on
Pak-US relations.