Message Of Paigham-e-Pakistan To Be Taken To Grassroots Level In All Districts: Ahsan Iqbal

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal, on Wednesday chaired the 4th meeting of the Steering Committee on the Socio-Political Domain, expressing his resolve to take the message of ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ to the grassroots level across all districts of the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th May, 2025) Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal, on Wednesday chaired the 4th meeting of the Steering Committee on the Socio-Political Domain, expressing his resolve to take the message of ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ to the grassroots level across all districts of the country.

The meeting was attended by Finance Ministers of provincial governments, Chairmen Planning & Development departments of all provinces, officers from Ministries of Law & Justice, Interior & Narcotics, Education, Religious Affairs,

Higher Education Commission, National Counter Terrorism Regulatory Authority (NACTA) Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, a news release said.

The steering committee, which follows the directives of the Central Apex Committee concerning the revised National Action Plan 2021, was constituted on Prime Minister's directions in February this year, with a mandate to improve governance, equitable development projects and address root causes of subversion.

During the committee’s first three meetings held in March and April, directions were given by Minister Ahsan Iqbal to the concerned ministries and provincial governments regarding implementation of actions in administrative, social, economic, political and information domains to consolidate peace in the country.

Ahsan Iqbal discussed three key issues during the fourth meeting including the educational and social well-being of youth in Balochistan, the role of entertainment industry in educating public, and the essential need to mainstream deeni madaris.

He said during 2013-2018, 5000 scholarships were awarded by federal government to students in Balochistan and newly merged districts (FATA).

Stressing on the importance of giving more exposure to students in these regions, the minister said, “An exchange program must be developed for students of Balochistan and FATA that allows them to spend a semester in top universities of other provinces.”

He noted that, in addition to kinetic measures, non-kinetic actions, particularly socio-economic uplift in districts affected by conflict, were essential to improve the situation in a sustainable manner.

The minister also mentioned a study released by Planning Ministry in consultation with World Bank which presented a multidimensional poverty index, outlining 20 poorest districts of Pakistan.

Drawing a strong correlation between conflict, poverty and lack of education, the minister stated that education and improvements in lifestyle of citizens living in the poorest districts will reduce their tendency towards extremism.

Chairman HEC briefed the Planning Minister that 22,8500 scholarships had been awarded to students in Balochistan so

far to pursue undergrad, postgrad, M.Phil and PhD programs. “Out of the total scholarships, 608 scholarships enabled students to study in foreign universities while 21,992 scholarships were awarded for pursuing studies in local universities.

Chairman HEC also briefed the minister that Balochistan has 12 universities at present and scholarships for different disciplines have been awarded through different phases of HEC scholarship program.

The minister was apprised by relevant departments that an interactive session has been planned to be held in the coming days for students belonging to Balochistan who are currently studying in universities in the federal capital.

Reflecting on the role and responsibilities of television industry, he directed PEMRA to ensure that every TV channel fulfills its requirement of showing public service messages during prime-time hours to maintain social order in society. “TV channels give maximum time to commercial advertisements but their time slots allotted for public awareness campaign have decreased.”

PEMRA official stated that every TV channel was eligible for license only if it allocated 10 percent of transmission to broadcast public awareness messages.

Ahsan Iqbal directed PEMRA to cooperate in spreading the core message of Paigham-e-Pakistan during prime time, for highest reach. “Such measures will help build a more informed and responsible society," he added.

Public awareness messages aimed at inculcating civic sense among citizens can be beneficial in educating the masses, stressed the minister.

Furthermore, the minister instructed Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to hold meetings with the top entertainment production houses, urging them to replace typical scripts and stories with inspirational stories. “Entertainment shapes minds, that’s why monitoring is key to preventing unethical content that threatens the social fabric," he said.

While discussing the imperative of mainstreaming madrassahs, the minister stated, “A uniform single point agenda for Deeni Madaris to implement Matric and Intermediate equivalency must be implemented so that every student qualifying madrasa education can get admission in colleges and universities.”

Explaining the hurdles faced by students seeking admission in colleges based on matric level equivalency, Ahsan Iqbal directed line departments to smoothen the process.

Furthermore, he directed provincial governments to instruct district administrations to implement endorsement of Paigham-e-Pakistan's key message in all educational institutes at grassroots level in their respective districts. “District governments must ensure that all educational institutes endorses and display the core message of Paigham-e-Pakistan to build unity, harmony, and social order. Peace is a shared responsibility,” emphasized the minister.

The meeting concluded with the minister's direction to NACTA to compile a list of policy actions to be undertaken by federal and provincial governments to combat extremism and promote inter faith harmony.