Government to introduce new local bodies system after elections, says PM Khan

On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan termed the Pakistan Citizen Portal as the "first step on the journey to people's empowerment".

In a ceremony celebrating the second anniversary of the Pakistan Citizen Portal, which was launched in 2018 to "address [timely] the problems of the people and get their feedback", the Prime Minister stated that three million people registered their complaints. and each ministry and government department was given a breakdown of their performance.

The Prime Minister stated that in Western countries, citizens were empowered enough to expect the government to serve their needs, especially since they paid taxes. He added that in democratic societies, those in government had no choice but to listen to the masses, because they need votes.

"In Pakistan too, there is some change because of elections. [But] our government [should] listen to the masses and work for them and should not feel that it's doing them a favour, because its the duty to serve the people," he said. The Prime Minister noted that municipal services were not effectively being provided in the country, which reflected that the local government system was not functioning properly.

He stated that the government would be introducing a new local bodies system, adding that "a revolution will come after the local bodies elections", adding that the new local government system will be implemented at a village level, where people will be able to elect their representatives who will directly receive funds every year.

The Prime Minister mentioned that this approach would be "the best way to solve their municipal and problems [on a] local government level, like pollution, waste management, sewerage etc. Across the world, these issues are resolved by the local government".