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Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday launched the Letter of Administration and Succession Certificates Initiative for Punjab.
According to Radio Pakistan, under the Letter of Administration and Succession Certificates Act, legal heirs can get succession certificates from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) within fifteen days without approaching the courts.
Addressing the launching ceremony in Islamabad, the premier said the government’s goal was to facilitate the people. “A government functions on taxpayers’ money, and under a social contract, it serves the people.”
He said that when such a system starts decaying, the public starts serving the government and not the other way around. He lauded the launch of succession certificates, stating that often times the government does not have time to think about upgrading existing systems.
“We are concerned with day-to-day things, we are firefighting and we don’t get the time to upgrade ourselves,” he said.
The premier also voiced appreciation for the law ministry for working on the certificates despite the “pressures” it was dealing with. “We have complaints that if a file goes to the law ministry, you never find out where it gets lost. Despite this, you have taken time out […] I would like to appreciate [your efforts],” he said.
PM Imran lamented the fact that all government systems had become difficult, which in turn was inconveniencing the public. Talking about succession certificates, the premier said that overseas Pakistanis used to first have to come back to the country. “The entire procedure was a painful ordeal. It should be simple, which we have now accomplished.”
PM Imran said that the government should work on introducing technological upgrades in other areas, adding that information technology had introduced a lot of “shortcuts”.
Giving the example of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, he said that a software was developed to make the entire facility paperless. “The biggest advantage of this was that it eradicated any sort of pilferage. Corruption was eradicated.”
In such a system, it was not possible to make false receipts, he said, reiterating that introducing a paperless system rooted out “fraud”.
“Now we are trying to [replicate] this in our government, to bring about e-governance,” he said. The premier said his government was also trying to resolve land issues, pointing out that half of all cases filed in the courts were over land disputes.
He said the government was “computerising land records”, adding that by August all the records in Islamabad would be digitised. “This is the way to move forward.”
Commenting on electoral reforms, the premier said that the government wants overseas Pakistanis to vote. “They are such a big asset, the country runs on their remittances. But they are unable to participate in elections.”
He said the government wanted Nadra to introduce a system that was foolproof, adding that electronic voting machines would eliminate rigging. He said whoever wanted to question the result would have to challenge a paper trail in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Former US president Donald Trump tried to challenge the result of the 2020 presidential election, he said. “But he was unable to dispute it because of the use of technology. “We will also try to conduct elections in the same way.”