Succession certificate, letter of administration Documents to be available within 15 days

Mumtaz Alvi/APP

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday launched the online system for issuance of letters of administration and succession certificates within 15 days, saying the step will greatly facilitate local citizens and overseas Pakistanis. Addressing the launch ceremony here, he said the main objective of digitalization of inheritance system was to facilitate the general public and to provide them with justice without delay. The letters of administration and succession certificates, which earlier took around two to seven years to issue, will now take two weeks. Imran said the government considered legal reforms crucial in ensuring justice through peoplefriendly legislation. He regretted that delay in matters relating to inheritance of property caused utmost grievances to the heirs, particularly the families dispersed abroad. Imran Khan said the overall system that denied the spirit of facilitation for general public in fact encouraged criminal activities in shape of bribery or illegal occupation of property. “When crime pays, crime multiplies. Besides reforms in the Civil Procedure Courts, he said, the government would bring improvement in the Criminal Justice System as well. For the purpose, all the stakeholders, including the judiciary and lawyers, will be taken on board,” he added. He said the main goal of his government was to emulate the welfare State of Madina, where revenues and wealth were diverted towards uplift and facilitation of the underprivileged. He lauded Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Farogh Nasim and his team for materializing the difficult task

meant to facilitate the common man. Dr Farogh Nasim said the Law Ministry had devised a mechanism to establish Succession Facilitation Units in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for the issuance of letters of administration and succession certificates. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday lauded the key role of religious scholars in tackling the problems facing the country, be it extremism or sectarianism and said their cooperation was needed to counter the nefarious conspiracies to create differences and divisions in the Muslim Ummah. The prime minister said the role of eminent scholars was crucial in making the country a true Islamic welfare state. He observed this while talking to a delegation of Ulema and Mashaikh, which called on him here. Minister for Religious Affairs Peer Noor-ul-Haq Qadri was also present in the meeting. The delegation included Pir Muhammad Amin Al Hasnat Shah, Pir Chiraguddin Shah, Dr Qibla Ayaz, Pir Naqib-ur-Rehman, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, Pir Habib Irfani, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, Syed Ziaullah Bukhari, Pir Sultan Ahmad Ali Haq Bahoo, Allama Muhammad Hussain Akbar. Mufti Abu Bakar Mohi-ud- Din, Maulana Muhammad Adil Attari, Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Qureshi, Mufti Fazal Jameel Rizvi, Maulana Hamidul Haq, Pir Shamsul Amin, Pir Habibullah Shah, Muhammad Qasim Qasmi, Sahibzada Muhammad Akram Shah and Pir Makhdoom Abbas Bengali. Talking to the scholars, Prime Minister Imran Khan said unity and solidarity in Pakistan and the Muslim Ummah was an important need of the hour. Mentioning his efforts in this regard in the last two years, the prime minister said Pakistan had raised its voice against Islamophobia the most. He said series of meetings with the scholars would continue for resolving the issues facing the country. The scholars paid tribute to the prime minister for his stern stance on protection of Holy Prophet (PBUH) at the United Nations and Islamophobia in the West. They praised the prime minister for taking a clear and unequivocal stand on Pakistan’s stance on Israel. They said no leader of the Islamic world had raised the issue of Islamophobia in a manner in which the prime minister raised it in the West for which the Muslim Ummah appreciated him. The delegation lauded the prime minister for highlighting the Kashmir issue in an effective manner at the United Nations and for the first time taking a rational stand on Islamophobia, saying the Muslim Ummah saw Prime Minister Imran Khan as a true leader of the Islamic world. The scholars also appreciated the efforts of government in improving madrassas, especially in adapting the education system and curriculum to modern requirements and offered suggestions in this regard. Meanwhile, the weekly meeting of the National Coordinating Committee for Housing, Construction and Development, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, was told about the commencement of residential construction projects worth about Rs660 billion this year. Chairman New Pakistan Housing Authority Lt. Gen. (R) Anwar Ali Haider informed the meeting about tax incentives, bank financing, markup subsidies, facilitation regime and forklift laws. He gave a briefing on the results and briefed the participants on the progress made so far in the public and private sector housing construction projects. Secretary housing briefed the meeting that construction projects worth about Rs660 billion would be launched this year. He also briefed the participants on the progress of the Ministry of Housing on affordable and low cost housing projects in the country. Governor SBP briefed the participants on the achievement of the targets set for housing finance beyond expectations. The SBP has launched the SBP Online Portal to facilitate the public in obtaining loans from banks for construction of houses and for resolving grievances, which will be launched next week. With the establishment of this online portal, it will be possible to eliminate difficulties and delays faced by the people in obtaining loans from banks. In this regard, special counters have been set up in 16 regional offices of the SBP for the convenience of the public. Through the portal, Regional Focal Persons of Banks and Chief Managers of SBP will be able to address the barriers to disbursement of loans on priority basis by monitoring the implementation of applications. In addition, steps will be taken on a priority basis to address public grievances regarding obtaining loans. Encouraging the SBP to set up an online portal, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the move would make it easier for the common man to get a loan to build a house.