Govt lacks money to run day-to-day affairs: PM Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured to isolate the bureaucracy from political interference and asked the civil servants to support the new government in meeting grave economic challenges confronting the country.

“We are at crossroads. The government has been even left with no money to run its day to day affairs,” the Prime Minister while addressing the civil servants at the PM House.

Khan said and pointed that now it was time to change the mindset of the ruling elite to address the new challenges.

He said the civil servants need to understand that they were here to serve the masses and not to impress them with their power and authority, as was done by the British rulers in the Indian subcontinent.

“I am not concerned about your political affiliation, but your performance. If you deliver, I assure to stand by you,” the Prime Minister told civil servants belonging to different occupational groups, here at the PM Office.

The Prime Minister said political interference in the past had put a negative impact on the quality of bureaucracy where appointments were made by ignoring the principles of merit.

He said Pakistan could become a destination of investment and tourist attraction within two years provided its governance system was mended.

“Coming out of the financial debt trap and bringing change in the colonial mindset of ruling elite is important to address challenges,” he said, adding that it was important for bureaucracy to implement the policies of new government in true letter and spirit.

Imran Khan pointed that the country was facing a huge debt trap of Rs30 trillion that had swelled from six trillion rupees in a decade. He said the previous government borrowed loans to start projects such as Orange Line project that regularly require huge financial input.

He said immediate steps needed to be taken to come out of the classic debt trap and quoted the verse of Holy Quran which points that the Allah Almighty does not change the condition of a nation, which does not amend itself.

He said the civil service can only change when it starts to think several times before spending even a penny of public funds. “Think of the 43% of the children with stunted growth and the 25 million children without access to schools” he added.

He said the task force on civil service reform needs to bring about world class reforms in Pakistan so that the country could compete in a knowledge economy.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said the third world economies because of their rampant corruption could not improve, however the western democracies were clean, because their institutions were strong.