‘Giant initiatives’ in 2020 will help make Pakistan a welfare state: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said giant initiatives will be taken in the year 2020 to put Pakistan on the path leading to realization of the true vision of being a welfare state based upon the principles of rule of law, meritocracy and social equality. Addressing as chief guest at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Air University South Campus here, he said the humans are to achieve their concepts, visions and dreams irrespective of all hurdles. “The great people and the institutions, who nurture wider visions, always progress,” he added. The prime minister said his own vision to transform Pakistan on the pattern of State of Madina, which was a tried and tested model in the human history based on the creation of a humanitarian system leading to the rise of a great nation. For the first time in history, a state took responsibility of its weaker segments, including widows, orphans and hapless. The welfare State of Madina, he said, had three basic principles of social security, rule of law where no one was above the law, and the emphasis upon seeking of knowledge. The prime minister said during the 1960s, the degrees awarded by the Pakistani educational institutes were recognized internationally and students from abroad used to study here. However, no focus was made on maintaining standard of higher education and research in the recent past, he regretted. Imran Khan stressed on learning from the life of Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), who laid emphasis that seeking of knowledge was a sacred duty. He said the world today is moving at a fast pace in terms of achievements in the fields of science and technology, which are making progress by leaps and bounds. He referred to the artificial intelligence (AI), which is bringing about a revolution, and stressed that the country’s institutions should take benefit from the ‘watershed moment’. The prime minister observed that there should be some out-of-the-box strategy according high priority to the education sector as the nation has capabilities to excel despite limited financial resources. Expressing his optimism, he said soon the difficult times will be over as the nations which underwent trials always emerged successfully. The county is facing economic constraints but it has huge human resource potential like the overseas Pakistanis, he added. Imran Khan said his government’s basic target is to introduce a system of meritocracy in all spheres of life. He said in the year 2019, they succeeded in bringing about an economic turnaround and stability despite facing hard times in the middle of last year when the country’s foreign reserves have shrunk, with the rupee sliding down. The people went through difficult times with high inflation and hike in the prices of petrol, power and edibles, though hoarding is also one of the reasons for price increase, he added. He, however, expressed optimism that 2020 will be the year in which the country will witness progress and prosperity. The country, he said, has huge potential in every sector and gifted with mineral wealth. The food security can be achieved through research and technology, besides increasing the production in food grains and dairy, he added. He said the government is giving boost to the construction industry with the low cost housing initiative which would benefit about 40 allied industries with it. Currently, a case was pending with the Lahore High Court over the foreclosure law, he added. Enumerating the steps for providing relief to the public, he said the poor segments and the salaried class would be provided with subsidized items at all the outlets of Utility Stores Corporation. He said the government is also mulling to issue ration cards to the poor families as they had already been given the health insurance through the issuance of Sehat Insaf cards. The prime minister said tourism also had immense potential as the flow of tourists in the country has doubled during the last two years due to improved security situation. The world had recognized that as evident from the recent reports of Condé Nast Traveller and UK Backpacker, he said. Malaysia was earning $20 billion, Turkey $40 billion and Switzerland $80 billion annually from the tourism sector, he mentioned.