Monitoring system introduced for good governance

Govt finally focuses on reforms agenda; a positive outcome of PTI-PAT sit-ins

Ansar AbbasiFriday, October 10, 2014 From Print Edition

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ISLAMABAD: The Nawaz Sharif government has finally launched a set of reforms that will have a positive effect on the lives of masses, thanks to the pressure built by the PTI-PAT sit-ins in the Red Zone.

 

On Thursday, the prime minister directed almost all service delivery departments of the federal government to immediatelydelivery, fight petty corruption, enhance citizens’ trust and communicate state responsiveness.

 

Last week, the prime minister chaired a high-level meeting to introduce the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system for speedy settlement of disputes in order to complement the existing judicial system and help the judiciary to focus on non-compoundable and other serious offences.

 

Another meeting on the ADR will be held on Saturday to work out a strategy for early implementation of the system for speedy and inexpensive justice.In the last week of September, a Tax Reforms Commission was constituted to facilitate the general public about the taxation issues and upgrade the current taxation system. Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar has approved the setting up of the Tax Reforms Commission. The commission will also undertake a review and rationalisation of direct and indirect taxes, Customs tariff rationalisation,

review of autonomy and administrative structure of the FBR and creation of a border force to deal with illegal movement of persons and goods across the international borders.

 

Following the PTI-PAT decision to march to Islamabad, the Nawaz Sharif government has already constituted a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms, which has held several sessions and is expected to complete its job within a couple of months.

 

The much-demanded depoliticisation of civil bureaucracy and police and their reformation, the overhaul of NAB and FIA to make them effective anti-corruption entities, empowerment of the parliamentary committees to enable parliament to keep a check on the government, etc., are some of the areas of reforms that have so far been overlooked by the government but need immediate attention.

 

On Thursday, all the federal secretaries were conveyed the prime minister’s decision that all federal agencies associated with services will implement the Citizen Feedback Monitoring Programme (CFMP), as innovated by the Punjab province.

 

The CFMP is a system under which the citizens are contacted on their mobile by the government authorities to get their feedback over the quality of service they had received and whether or not they have been asked to pay a bribe. For every interaction with the service delivery agency, the mobile number of the citizen is noted for feedback contact by the authorities through a centralised system of the CFMP.

 

The Cabinet Division has been asked to lead the implementation of this system across the federal agencies and regularly brief the Prime Minister’s Office on progress. It will appoint a focal person, not below the rank of additional secretary, for day-to-day coordination of the programme. It will also set up a dedicated unit, with staffing from the private and public sector, to properly analyse the feedback, improve implementation of the effort and follow up on corrective actions to be taken by the respective agencies.

 

A working group consisting of PTA, Nadra, Information Division and Information Technology Division representatives to be chaired by the focal person will guide fast and effective implementation of the programme. The working group will, within two weeks, suggest measures

including any appropriate changes in rules that may be required, to leverage the Nadra and PTA/telecom databases to improve the quantity and quality of citizen cell numbers.

 

The Punjab Information Technology Board may be approached to provide technical assistance and help kick-start the efforts till institutionalised arrangements are put in place by the federal government. The Planning Division will provide the funds based on the multi-year financing needs identified by the Cabinet Division.

 

As per the PM’s decision, the targeted services in the first phase will include the Immigration and Passports Department for passport provision and immigration (Pakistanis and foreigners entering the country at various border check points); electricity and gas utilities agencies for bill correction, new connections and change of connections and proactive customer feedback on complaints; SECP for company/firm registration and other business service; NADRA for CNIC issuance, its renewal or change; CDA for property transactions (all sorts — sale, transfer, gift, etc.), municipal services like water tankers etc, emergency response — ambulance, fire brigade, marriage/divorce/birth/death certificates; the ICT administration for issuance of domicile, international driving licence and other citizen services; Capital Police for services of 15, driving licence and character certificate; excise & taxation for motor vehicle registration/transfer; HEC for attestation of documents; Foreign Office for overseas Pakistanis services in various embassies; miscellaneous and attestation of documents; Federal Ombudsman for complaint processing; Federal Board of Revenue for taxpayer feedback on ease of tax filing and BISP for delivery of various services to BISP beneficiaries.