ISLAMABAD: The cabinet has been informed that the federal government is leading the provincial governments in redressal of citizen complaints received at Prime Minister’s Pakistan Citizen Portal.

The cabinet was informed recently that so far 1.173 million users had registered themselves on the portal with 100,300 inland users, 103,000 overseas Pakistanis and 4,000 foreigners. Province-wise data reflects 568,000 users from Punjab, 284,000 from Khyber Pakhtun­khwa, 137,000 from Sindh, 35,000 from Islamabad, 12,000 from Balochistan, 7,000 from Azad Jammu and Kash­mir and 1,000 from Gilgit-Baltistan are registered with the portal.

According to the report presented to the cabinet, the federal government had resolved 509,153 out of 553,125 complaints. In Punjab, 392,292 complaints were resolved with 88 per cent redressal rate. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secured 87pc on the score card by resolving 100,635 out of 116,050 complaints. In Islamabad, 9,909 complaints were resolved out of 11,137. The Balochistan government resolved 6,166 complaints out of 7,782, securing 79pc redressal rate. The Sindh government, however, lagged behind all other governments with merely 40pc redressal rate and could only resolve 38,268 out of 95,894 complaints.

The cabinet was informed that out of the 37,029 complaints that had been pending since more than 90 days, 84pc complaints pertained to the Sindh government.

It was told that on the basis of the nature and feedback received from the citizens, various policy initiatives were taken to facilitate them. These policy initiatives include, among others, enforcement of SOPs for facilitation of persons with missing finger prints, exemption of overseas Pakistanis from withholding tax, payment of outstanding stipends to over 29,000 interns who were hired by the previous government but were not paid their stipend, and facilitation of females and persons with disabilities.

It was informed that on the basis of the complaints, strict action was taken and senior level officers were taken to task for dereliction of duty.

Various success stories where the citizens were provided relief were also shared with the cabinet. These included provision of assistance to the citizens in cases of non-cooperation from government officials and offices, action against high-handedness of police officials, recovery of abductee, blackmailing, taking action against police officials who had colluded with culprits involved in rape of a girl, bringing back of a Pakistani citizen who was stuck in Saudi Arabia due to bankruptcy of a company.

The cabinet was informed that efforts were afoot to institutionalise the system and create greater awareness among people about the facility. Efforts were also being made to stop misuse, blackmailing and mala fide throu­gh implementation of Citizen’s Responsibility Index.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and the cabinet members appreciated the performance of the Pakistan Citizen Portal.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2019