LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said it would be our collective failure if citizens lose confidence in the state, lose trust in the system or feel they have no future in the country.
Addressing a meeting with administrative service officers from Sindh, Maryam said that if a citizen’s bond with the state weakened or their confidence in the country and its institutions eroded, it would reflect a failure on the part of the government and society.
“The government should reach out to citizens to fulfil their needs and strengthen their bond with the state,” she said.
Maryam said her primary focus remained on governance and service delivery.
“The chief minister’s chair is not a bed of roses,” she said, adding that people often believed running a government was an easy task, whereas the position came with numerous challenges.
She added that if no improvement was made in governance on a particular day, she felt as though the day had been wasted.
The chief minister said that even members of her own cabinet sometimes kept people waiting for hours, highlighting the need for punctuality and efficiency in public administration.
Recalling past practices, she said meetings scheduled for 10am would often not begin before 12:30pm. She maintained that none of her meetings was delayed and that she did not make people wait.
“If I have to reach somewhere at 10am, I arrive at 9:55am,” she said.
Maryam also remarked that managing party affairs was more challenging for her than running the government.
She said she received more criticism than praise but did not allow it to affect her work.
Emphasising the importance of merit in public appointments, the chief minister said she had not appointed any officer on the basis of a personal recommendation.
She criticised the practice of using personal connections to secure appointments, arguing that it was unfair to candidates who qualified on merit.
“If someone gets appointed through a recommendation, how unfair is that to those who deserve the position on merit?” she asked.
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Maryam said that whenever someone recommended a candidate to her for an interview, she would immediately cut that person’s name off the list.
“First of all, I cross out the name of the person who comes with a recommendation,” she said, reiterating her commitment to merit-based appointments and improved governance.