Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government orders to halt 'image-building' project

Peshawar [Pakistan], April 7 (ANI): Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government has ordered to close off the project that involves over 1,000 social media influencers, who were recruited by the Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf government to promote the province's positive image, Dawn reported.

In a letter, addressed to the planning and development department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's information department said that in the wake of the "current economic crisis followed by the unavailability of funds," it had been decided to wind up the project immediately.

The ministry also stated that they are requesting to stop the further release on account of the project with immediate effect.

The information department informed the finance department that after the provincial assembly's dissolution and the caretaker government's formation in the province, whose constitutional responsibility is to hold free, fair and impartial elections, the social media influencers project had lost its relevance, according to Dawn.

It insisted that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) banned the start of new development projects and fresh recruitment and therefore, the caretaker government was not mandated by the law, rules and regulations to carry out the project objectives. In this light, the continuation of that image-building project is a waste of taxpayers' money, it said.

"As all activities of the project are closed, it is requested that all expenditure, including salaries of the project management unit and stipends for internees, be stopped with an immediate effect in the best public interest," it said.

Last month, a caretaker information minister Feroz Jamal Shah Kakakhel said that the last-PTI government had employed around 5,000 social media workers against the monthly salary of Rs 25,000 to promote the ruling party's interests.

He, however, said the information department had just 1,200 such recruits, who highlighted the PTI government's policies and acts while staying home, reported Dawn.

"Our [caretaker] government will ask the Federal Investigation Agency to probe recruitment by the last government," he said.

The project documents on the information department's website show that the project was titled the "Establishment of social media participatory platforms for public awareness and feedback regarding reforms initiatives and encouraging civic responsibility" and was conceived at Rs 870 million in 2021-22 ADP. (ANI)