Imran Khan wants awareness campaign about EVM
Sources recorded that three days after the federal cabinet planned that the government of Pakistan would use electronic voting machines for the 2023 next general elections in consultation with the opposition, Prime Minister Imran Khan presently directed the authorities concerned to launch a campaign to apprise the public and all stakeholders of the benefits of electronic voting machine (EVMs) and check undue criticism by presenting a factual review. He issued the directive while presiding over a review meeting on use of EVMs in the elections. Federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Shibli Faraz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan, PM’s special assistant Shehbaz Gill and senior officers of the National Database and Registration Authority and the Ministry of Science and Technology attended the meeting. PM Imran Khan was apprised of the Judicial Commission’s proposed legal amendments regarding the use of EVMs. The measures were aimed at making the process of elections transparent. Presiding over a meeting of the cabinet, Imran Khan invited the opposition to sit with the government for making electoral reforms in Pakistan, counting the use of EVMs. However, the opposition parties categorically rejected the offer and said they would never allow the government to use EVMs in the elections. On the other hand, Prime Minister Khan said Pakistan was open for investment and business opportunities, as the recent investment worth $85 million by the world’s leading venture capitals (VCs) in Pakistani tech start-up Airlift. We welcome the recent investment of 85 million USD by leading VCs of the world in Airlift, a company led by young Pakistanis,” he said in a tweet. According to the PM Office, Airlift, a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has raised $85m in Series B financing, the largest single private funding round in Pakistan’s history. The financing is about twice the size of the largest private company IPO in the country’s history and the highest in the Middle East and North Africa region. The Country has huge potential as Pakistan is open for business,” PM Imran Khan said, adding that the government of Pakistan is committed to creating opportunities for foreign investors. Mr Khan said: “My government is fully committed to creating opportunities.” Furthermore, PM expanded ‘Ehsaas Koi Bhooka Na Soye’ initiative to Gujranwala, Lahore and Multan and directed the authorities concerned not to compromise on quality of food served to the needy people. He inaugurated four food trucks that will serve free cooked meal to daily-wage earners across the cities. With addition of four trucks under the expansion plan, the total number of such vehicles reaches 16. Under the programme, statistics showed that total 12 food trucks are already being run in five cities, counting Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad and Peshawar. Each truck feeds 1,000-1,500 people twice a day on specified service points. PM directed that there should be no compromise on quality of food, both at trucks also Panagahs (shelter homes), because the poor, who felt contented only for getting free food, would never complain about its quality. Reiterating his government’s commitment to serve the poor without hurting their dignity, the prime minister said such initiatives were the reflection of ‘State of Madina’ which had taken the responsibility of its poor people. Imran Khan was informed that by October this year, “Ehsaas Koi Bhooka Na Soye” operations would be enlarged to all the four provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan with an overall fleet of 40 food trucks in 29 cities that would feed 40,000 people every day and 1.46 million people yearly. To date, 831,625 meals have been served across Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Islamabad. The initiative was officially introduced by PM on March 10 this year to serve free meals to the deserving people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Under the Ehsaas umbrella, this programme is run by a public-private partnership whereby Pakistan Baitul Mal was responsible for the operation of food trucks and Saylani Welfare International Trust for provision of meals. According to the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) estimated population of Pakistan is 215.25 million with population growth rate of 1.80 percent in 2020 and population density of 270 per Km2. Pakistan has an extraordinary asset in the shape of youth bulge, which means that the largest segment of our population consists of young people. The population falling in the age group of 15-59 years is 59 percent, whereas 27 percent is between 15-29 years. This youth bulge can translate into economic gains only if the youth have skills consistent with the requirements of a modern economy. Pakistan, being the 5th most populous country and having 9th largest labour force in the world, adds a large number to its labour force every year. Pakistan’s labour market data has been derived from the latest available round of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for 2017-18. The data pertaining to 2018-19 round of the LFS has not been released yet. Moreover, Labour Force Survey for 2019-2020 did not take place due to preparations for an extensive survey in 2020-21, which will have a district level representative sample.