Punjab Government and World Bank Jointly Host a Workshop on Punjab Public Management Reform Program Showcasing Achievements at Lahore Today

Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Punjab Resource Management Program (PRMP) Planning and Development Board in collaboration with the World Bank jointly hosted a workshop on “Showcasing Achievements of the Punjab Public Management Reform Program” at Local Hotel, Lahore. Provincial Minister for Schools Education Dr. Murad Rass chaired the workshop while Chairman Planning & Development Punjab Habib-ur-Rehman Gilani, Chairman PITB Azfar Manzoor, senior representatives of World Bank Ismaila Ceesay, Global Practice Manager Governance, Clelia Rontiyanni Task Team Leader WB, CEO Urban Unit Khalid Sher Dil, PD Project Implementation Unit Ali Jalal, Member Education P&D Khalid Sultan, Member Energy P&D Sadaqat Hussain, Dr. Shahid Adil Additional Secretary P&D, Provisional Administrative Secretaries, senior officers from other provinces, stake holders, relevant officials and media representatives also attended the workshop.

Opening the forum, Chairman P&D Board Habib ur Rehman Gilani, in his welcome address, said that the real beneficiaries of any public sector intervention are the people and their right to have a government that they can hold accountable. The Punjab Government with the new leadership is keen to address the concerns of the people regarding transparency of government processes and is keen to take forward key reforms in the area and improve on it. Showcasing Achievements of the Punjab Public Management Reform Program which worked on key interventions of Improving Citizens Access to information and Public Services, Monitoring and Improving Performance of public services and improving public resource mobilization and better expenditure management, he added. Addressing the Workshop, Minister for Education Punjab Murad Rass, being a Chief Guest, stressed on the fact that the three basic pillars for any government to work and progress is Transparency, Accountability and Service Delivery. He said that the present government is committed to openness and the public’s right to know and will make use of technology to make processes more transparent and the government more accountable.

World Bank representatives, Ismaila Ceesay, Global Practice Manager Governance and Task Team Leader of WB Clelia Rontoyanni expressed that the government’s commitment to efficient and effective service delivery through governance reforms will enable the people of the province to lead better lives. The World Bank representatives on the occasion also thanked the government in their commitment to reforms in governance and welcomed future support for any such interventions. In the workshop, different departments of punjab government gave presentations on the key interventions that came under the Punjab Public Management Reform Program. The key achievements included  84 organizations publishing updated institutional information on their website, 08 departments with automated records system for defined disclosed information, information about 68 Key Services available to the public through the Citizen Contact Center (CCC) , 2.9 Million inquiries/comments received by the Citizen Contact Centers to seek information about, or to provide feedback on Key Services, 14 services accepting online applications, 15 services using online processing, 10 services accepting mobile payments, 149 functional facilitation centers, 393 centers using the Public-Private Partnership Model, 216 district services monitored through Smart Management Tools, 36 Functional Digital Property Registry across Punjab, 155, 594 properties added to the Property Registry, PKR 1,004 Million Urban Property Tax Collection, 153 organizations using PPRA MIS for Targeted Contracts.