ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday launched a 911 helpline to provide all emergency relief services through a single platform, which he believed, was a major step forward to developing Pakistan on the pattern of the Madina welfare state.

“Now, every citizen in any part of the country will get the state’s response (in case of any emergency). This is a major move forward towards our mission statement of making Pakistan an Islamic welfare state,” the premier said while addressing the launching ceremony of the helpline.

The integrated Pakistan Emergency Helpline (PEHEL)-911 would provide emergency services like fire brigade, police, health assistance, disaster recovery and motorway police etc. A needy person will have to dial just 911 and the call center would forward the call to the relevant government agency.

The prime minister said the government was striving to ease people’s lives as in any welfare state, the citizens should have the confidence of receiving the state’s response in case of any threat to life and property.