ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Wednesday that 2020 would be the year of providing relief to the general public after the economic revival of the country.
Addressing APP Award Distribution Ceremony here, the PM’s aide said that 2020 would be the year of fulfilment of promises made in the manifesto of PTI and expressed the hope that media would play its role in highlighting the achievements made by the present government.
She said that on December 25, Christian community celebrates Christmas whereas it was also the birthday of founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. She said that Quaid-i-Azam with his commitment and dedication changed the map of the sub-continent and realised the dream of Pakistan.
She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan following the vision of Quaid-i-Azam, struggled 23 years for transforming Pakistan. She said Imran Khan not only challenged the status quo but succeeded in defeating it in 2018 elections and that the foundation of Naya Pakistan has been laid with introduction of far-reaching reforms in the institutions.
The PM’s aide said that the empowerment of national institutions was the policy of the Quaid-i-Azam and the present government was striving to empower the institutions but in the past the rulers adopted policies to benefit themselves and their cronies.
She said Imran Khan has proved himself as a true leader instead of being a traditional politician. She said that traditional politicians try to please all and focus on next elections but a true leader focuses on the betterment of the next generations and makes difficult decisions irrespective of their negative impact on his vote bank.
Dr Firdous said that minorities not only played an important role at the time of the creation of Pakistan but also took active part in the nation-building process.
Dr Firdous further said that restructuring process in Associated Press of Pakistan has been initiated to make it a modern and self-reliant institution. She expressed the hope that after restructuring, APP would become a leading news agency in the region.
She said that the government and the workers of APP worked collectively for the improvement of the premier news agency. Appreciating the launch of APP Awards, she said that this would encourage its employees to work hard and encourage healthy competition among workers which would ultimately benefit the organization.
She also appreciated the efforts of APP Managing Director Tariq Mehmood Khan for initiating digitalisation process.
She said that the credit of announcement of 8th Wage Board Award goes to the present government as after 19 years the award was announced. She said Prime Minister Imran Khan had fulfilled the commitment made with the journalist organizations as the government wanted to protect rights of the journalists.
Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Chairman Senator Faisal Javaid, Principal Information Officer, Press Information Department Tahir Hassan, APP MD Tariq Mehmood Khan, APP Executive Director Ghawas Khan, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists former President Afzal Butt and National Press Club President Shakeel Qarar also attended the ceremony.