President Dr Arif Alvi Wednesday urged the civil servants to focus on improving governance and service delivery so as to effectively respond to people’s needs.
He underlined the need for taking fast decisions by using Information Technology (IT) tools to enhance efficiency and good governance.
The President was addressing the participants of 115th National Management Course (NMC), National School of Public Policy (NSPP), who called on him here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
He said that people had great expectations from the civil servants and they needed to be responsive to their needs.
The President stated that it had been his constant endeavor to set a direction for NSPP to cater to both the needs of imparting modern knowledge and techniques as well as the importance of nurturing strong values and an atmosphere of trust and cooperation among the participants of the course.
Highlighting the importance of IT, he said that using the latest IT tools could help increase the efficiency and performance of the government.
The President also apprised the participants about the initiative taken by him for the digitalization of Parliament and introducing e-governance in the Presidency.
He said that steps were being taken to promote IT sector of the country which had great potential to boost exports.
In response to a question, the President stated that efforts were being made to empower women financially as well as ensure the provision of their right to inheritance in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
He emphasized on the need for focusing on the skill development and financial inclusion of women.
The President also appreciated the government’ decision of providing training to youth and women, in collaboration with Amazon, for the promotion of e-commerce in the country and provide self-employment.
Regarding the high population growth, he said that the growing population was putting enormous pressure on the country’s resources and he sought the support of Ulema and Media to raise awareness about the implications of the rising population.
The President also called for creating awareness among the people through media and Lady Health Workers about various health challenges, especially breast cancer in women and stunting, malnutrition and wasting in children.
Earlier, Rector NSPP Dr. Ijaz Munir highlighted the objectives of the course and informed that the training regime for civil servants was being changed in line with modern needs of governance.
He further apprised that NSPP had developed collaborations with the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs and was focusing on changing the mindset of civil servants and providing them training to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).