ISLAMABAD: On their first day in office, a number of newly-minted federal ministers took charge of their ministries and set themselves lofty goals, which include addressing systemic issues related to law enforcement, climate change and social welfare.

Nearly all of them, however, blamed the previous PTI government for mismanaging the affairs of the state and predicted a hard road ahead for themselves.

But some tasks are more important than others, and this was demonstrated on Wednesday when Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, as one of his first acts in office, ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) not to tolerate the defamation of individuals through social media and ordered them to strengthen the cyber crime wing and make it more efficient.

The orders come on the heels of a social media campaign targeting the military establishment for not supporting Imran Khan’s erstwhile government and siding with the coalition of opposition parties which now sits on the treasury benches.

FIA ordered to crackdown on social media defamation; Ehsaas programme to be renamed ‘BISP’

Following his appointment a day earlier, Rana Sanaullah had assured that the government would proceed by the book and would not implicate people in false and fabricated cases.

The interior minister also received a briefing from Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and issued directions to all concerned officials to ensure durable peace in the country. He also asked for the establishment of a coordination mechanism between the centre and the provinces so they could keep a track on the law and order in all parts of the country.

Rana Sanaullah stressed that protecting the lives and property of the people should be the government’s primary responsibility, adding that the present government would make all-out efforts to address their problems them on priority basis.

He claimed that in the name of change, the previous government had destroyed all national institutions by adopting flawed policies and regretted that its leadership had continuously lied to Pakistanis for more than three years.

A change of climate

At the headquarters of the Climate Change ministry, Senator Sherry Rehman regretted that Pakistani cities ranked highly on the air pollution score in the world, where one in ten deaths amongst children under five were caused by air pollution and 128,000 people died from airborne particulate matter yearly.

Speaking soon after taking office, she listed the problems facing Pakistan: “As much as 80 per cent of the urban population lacks access to clean drinking water. We need to rethink our policies and coordinate priorities quickly.”

Outlining her priorities, the ministers said: “First and foremost, a policy roadmap beyond planting trees is needed… Our population needs to be made aware of the ever-increasing danger we face at the hands of climate change.”

“Pollution of our water and air, temperature rise, have caused incalculable costs to the country, to its soil, to its people and exposed us to disease and vulnerability,” she said.

The minister pointed out that while Pakistan contributes only 6 per cent of the world’s emissions, yet it is one of the countries consistently ranked amongst the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change.

When speaking about the water crises she stated, “Pakistan is primarily dependent on the Indus River system which supports 90 percent of the agricultural industry. It is immensely affected by climate change, resulting in frequent flooding. We rank third in the number of countries facing severe water shortages. Our four major crops such as cotton, wheat, sugarcane and rice are all water-dependent.”

Restoring BISP

Over at the offices of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Minister Shazia Marri, the PPP loyalist declared that the federal government had decided to change the name of the Ehsaas Programme to the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) – the original moniker for the famed social welfare programme first launched by her party’s government.

She said that it was only due to the PTI’s ill-intent and an attempt to avoid recognizing former prime minster Benazir Bhutto that the name change had been made.

It is worth noting that the PTI government had introduced the Ehsaas Program and BISP was made one of its components.

However, the PTI government also expanded the Ehsaas Program and various sub programmes were started under this banner, such as Ehsaas Kafaalat programme, the undergraduate scholarships programme, a school stipend scheme, the Rehri Baan initiative, panagahs (shelter homes) and the Ehsaas Koye Bhooka Na Soye programme etc.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2022