PM's special assistant wants media to highlight government's achievements

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister's special assistant on information and broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, said Wednesday that 2020 would be a year of providing relief to the general public after the country's economic revival.

Addressing Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) Award Distribution Ceremony here, Dr Awan said 2020 would be a year of fulfilment of promises made in the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) manifesto and expressed hope that the media would play its role in highlighting the achievements made by the present government.

She said the Christian community celebrates Christmas on December 25 whereas it was also birthday of Pakistan's founder, Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who, with his commitment and dedication, changed the map of the sub-continent, making the dream of Pakistan a reality.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, following the vision of Quaid-e- Azam, struggled 23 years for transforming Pakistan, she said. The premier not only challenged the status quo but succeeded in defeating it in the 2018 general elections, laying the foundation of Naya Pakistan and introducing far-reaching reforms in the institutions.

The national institutions' empowerment was a policy of Jinnah and the present government was striving to empower the institutions, the SAPM said, but, in the past, rulers had adopted policies to benefit themselves and their allies.

She said the PM had proved himself as a true leader instead of a traditional politician, who rather tries to please everyone and focuses on the next elections. A true leader, on the other hand, focuses on the betterment of the newer generations and makes difficult decisions irrespective of their negative impact of vote bank.

Dr Awan said the minorities not only played important role at the time of creation of Pakistan but also took active part in nation-building process.

The restructuring process in the APP had been initiated to make it a modern and self-reliant institution, the special assistant said. She expressed hope that after the restructuring, the APP would become a leading news agency in the region.

She said that the government and the APP's workers worked collectively for the improvement of the premier news agency. Appreciating the launch of APP Awards, she said this would encourage its employees to work hard, as well as a healthy competition among the workers, which would ultimately benefit the organisation.

She also appreciated the efforts of APP Managing Director Tariq Mehmood Khan for initiating digitisation process, saying the credit for the announcement of the 8th Wage Board Award after 19 years went to the present government.

She said PM Imran had fulfilled the commitment he had made with the journalist organisations as the government wished to protect rights of the journalists.

The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, Senator Faisal Javaid, the principal information officer for the Press Information Department, Tahir Hassan, APP MD Tariq Mehmood Khan, APP Executive Director Ghawas Khan, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt, and National Press Club President Shakeel Qarar also attended the ceremony.