Minister urges civil servants to play constructive role to uplift economy

July 4, 2022: Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Monday urged the officials of the Senior Management Course (SMC) to play their constructive role at a time when the country is facing the worst economic crisis.

The minister was addressing a delegation of SMC officials who visited the Ministry. Addressing the participants, the Minister said that our civil servants are selected through a competitive process that is comparable in competence with the best civil servants in the world but when we look at the performance of the public sector it is deteriorating day by day.

The question is why the individual excellence of our officer is not translating into a collective competence, he added.

“There are huge challenges in every sector but you have the potential to solve them as nobody will come from the outside, '' said the minister while stressing them to put their extra efforts into public service delivery. The minister urged them to focus on key areas like Taxes, Investment, Exports, and Remittances (TIER) in order to strengthen the resource base.

The Minister said that unfortunately in recent years due to the inefficiency of government departments people have lost confidence in state institutions which must be restored through effective public service delivery.   

Professor Iqbal further added that the civil servants had ensured the successful implementation of various projects in the past which were initiated under CPEC. Responding to a question on water, he said the National Water Policy was formulated by PML-N through consensus in 2018 which must be implemented.

According to the Minister, economic stability is linked with political stability as continuity of policies, constitutional governance is basic prerequisites for any country to progress. The Minister said that in order to bring the country’s economy on track there is a need for a Grand National Dialogue to develop the Charter of Economy which could ensure continuity of policies.

The Minister informed the participants that he has received an overwhelming response from the Turn Around Conference conducted by the ministry in which experts from various fields were invited to bring the country’s economy on track.

He said that the key to resolving a country’s problems lies in collaborative and inclusive governance. Polarization and chaos are a recipe for the destruction of the economy, he concluded.

Press Release