KARACHI:There would be no ‘Naya Pakistan’ without new provinces, as to resolve the issues of public new administrative units in our country are direly needed, said Pasban e Pakistan President Altaf Shakoor here Monday.
In a statement, he said the Naya Pakistan would be a pipe dream if the new government failed to create new provinces. He said the new provinces should be created on administrative grounds and not on the linguistic grounds. He said when they talk about making a Saraiki province then it is natural that people would also demand to make a Muhajir province.
He said new provinces should be made on purely administrative grounds so that citizens could be facilitated. He said there is a suggestion that the administrative divisions in the whole country should be made administrative provinces. He said that the creation of new provinces on administrative grounds is an old demand of Pasban. He said India after gaining independence has already made many new states and provinces. He asked why our rulers are shying away from making new provinces. Altaf Shakoor said that there would also be no Naya Pakistan without building new dams, as water scarcity has become the most pressing economic issue of this country.
He reminded that Pakistan has already become a water deficient country and a dreadful drought is a certain if new dams on build on priority. He regretted that the successive governments in Pakistan did not take efforts for constructing new water storage reservoirs. He said agriculture, the backbone of our economy, is being devastated because of the acute shortage of water, but the ruling and opposition politicians are keeping a shameful mum over the issue of constructing new dams.
He said we need food security for our coming generations. He said Pakistan is amongst the countries where the food inflation is the highest in whole world. He said Pakistan can become a rich grain basket of the region if the government really shows interest in building new dams. He said the previous governments spent huge money on infrastructure projects, like metro bus and train projects, roads and highways but they deliberately ignored the crucial irrigation and water sector. He hoped that the government of Imran Khan would prove that it is different from the past regimes by allocating resources for the construction of new dams, barrages and canal systems.
Shakoor said that for a Naya Pakistan it is also necessary to give constitutional megacity status to our two megacities, Karachi and Lahore. He said the Pasban has already started a drive for bringing constitutional amendments to insert new clauses in the local government-related articles to pave way for the constitutional rights to the megacities. He said during the term of previous assembly, Pasban had written letters to the Parliamentarians, requesting them for urgent law-making in favor of the megacity status to Karachi and Lahore. He said we will also write such letters to the new Parliamentarians.
He demanded to revamp public transport system in Karachi, stressing on immediate repair and running of defunct Karachi Circular Railway (KCR). He demanded to establish at least one government-run university and one teaching hospital in every district of the province. He said the new government should focus on promoting solar energy and drip irrigation to save electricity and water. He asked for developing indigenous economic corridors in the country. He said in Sindh province, two economic corridors from Karachi to Hyderabad and from Karachi to Keti Bandar should be established on war-footing basis to end unemployment and boost economy.
He said in the regard the model of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor in neighboring India should be closely studied. He asked the federal government of PTI and Sindh government of PPP to join hands to establish the indigenous economic corridor between Karachi and Hyderabad on top priority basis.