PM to evaluate performance of federal ministries

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed all ministries to submit their performance reports to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, saying it is necessary to inform the people about the performance of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) government during its first year in office.

Chairing a meeting to review the performance of the information ministry and its allied departments, he said the ministry has a vital role to highlight the government’s performance.

Key prime ministerial aides Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Naeemul Haq, and others attended the deliberations.

Imran was apprised of the performance of the ministry, Press Information Department, Radio Pakistan, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and Pakistan Television (PTV) during the outgoing year.

The prime minister said the PTV represented the national identity, culture and values, which should produce programmes to truly highlight Pakistan’s social values.

Awan apprised the prime minister that on his directives, the process to appoint information commissioners had been finalised in light of the Access to Information Act 2017.

He was informed that the government has already announced an interim wage board award while the promulgation of the eighth wage board award was under way.

Imran was briefed that in pursuance of his government’s austerity drive, the information ministry had saved Rs200 million during the previous year.

He was told that the ministry had paid Rs1.5 billion as arrears of pensions to the employees of the APP and Radio Pakistan besides paying an equal amount (Rs1.5 billion) to the retired PTV employees.

The meeting was told that the ministry would soon table a new policy for judicious distribution of advertisements and effectively highlight the government’s initiatives for its approval.

Awan said that on the prime minister’s directive, the restructuring of the institutions was under way to enhance their effectiveness.