Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the members of his cabinet to step up their performance in order to serve the masses better, saying that the government was left with no more excuses to defend its shortcomings after completion of over two years in office.

“We have to take our performance to the next level. We no longer have the excuse that we are inexperienced and learning because we came into power for the first time,” he said while addressing a signing ceremony of agreements between the prime minister and federal ministries to evaluate performance of various departments and sectors in achieving targets in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The premier was of the view that any party which is coming into power after fresh elections should be given detailed briefing about the prevailing issues of the country before assuming the charge. “It took us three months to understand the system and for the first one and a half year we did not even know the real figures of the different sectors,” he said while recalling the challenges that his government had to face when took reign of the country after winning the 2018 polls.

Prime Minister Imran assigned targets to various ministries to improve governance and prioritise projects, especially rationalising the power sector and subsidies, encouraging wealth creation, and enhancing exports.He said prioritised projects will vigorously be followed and evaluated to ensure performance, emphasising that “now it is time to perform and every ministry has to achieve its targets”.PM Imran said power sector is the biggest challenge for his government as subsidies worth billions of rupees is being provided to both rich and poor segments of the society.

“There is a need to rationalise provision of subsidies to the targeted populace and deserving people as well as for the development of backward areas,” he added.The prime minister stressed on the need to enhance exports and control inflation in the country. He said growing bill of pensions is also one of the biggest challenges the country is facing. He directed to formulate a comprehensive plan to meet this challenge.PM Imran said concentration will be further made on the agriculture sector to increase productivity and job opportunities for the youth.

He said the government is seeking China's cooperation in the agriculture sector under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).Talking about problems emerged after transfer of powers and shifting of various subjects to provinces under the 18th Amendment, Imran Khan said “we need to review the system for better performance”.He questioned what the federal government can do if a province does not release wheat well in time, creating difference in prices of the commodity. He said in such a situation blame is shifted to the federal government.Similarly, the ministry of environment has been devolved to provinces and the Center cannot formulate a uniform policy saying that such subjects should be held by the federal government. 

‘Lobbying is unacceptable’

Earlier, while chairing a weekly federal cabinet meeting, the premier said all government decisions are being taken after much deliberation and no pressure would be tolerated by any lobby through any minister.He maintained that all decisions by the federal cabinet are taken transparently and on the basis of merit. PM Imran asked the ministers to inform him in person if they face any pressure by any lobby to influence the government’s policy-making.

Other issues including economy, security were also reviewed during the meeting and the participants were given detailed briefing about the coronavirus situation in the country.Moreover, the participants also held consultations over anti-government protests launched by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and upcoming Senate polls.