THE observation of Prime Minister Imran Khan that one of the reasons Pakistan lags behind the world is that planning here is made for the elite and not for the people at large is quite relevant and things can change if his thinking and vision is translated into reality. Addressing the signing ceremony of agreements by the Universal Services Fund (USF) to provide the fastest mobile broadband data services in Sindh and Balochistan, he said the one-sided development that takes place in our country has a bad impact on society, adding that the government is working on a vision to develop the neglected areas.
Pakistan has an elaborate system of governance but unfortunately it is not working and delivering because of lack of commitment, shirk work, trespassing of the mandate by individuals and institutions and meddling into others’ domain, favouritism and blatant disregard for merit. We have Planning Commission and departments both at the federal and provincial levels but mostly planning has been done on a whimsical basis by rulers and not the institutions concerned and as a result hard-earned money is wasted on projects and programmes that benefit a few. On the other-hand, projects of far-reaching importance for the general public like motorways, highways and metro buses are opposed and belittled due to infighting of the political parties. All projects can deliver if they are properly conceived by relevant departments and scrutinized by the Planning Commission and provincial planning departments strictly on merit. The abysmal poverty and backwardness that we witness in Balochistan and interior Sindh also has a linkage with lop-sided development. We have been pleading in these columns that the dream of socio-economic revolution that we want to bring about in far-flung and less-developed regions cannot be realized without creating awareness among people of these areas about their rights, which in turn requires creation of infrastructure especially roads, provision of electricity and most importantly establishment of schools and medical facilities. The agreements for extension of mobile phone and internet services to far-flung areas of Balochistan and Sindh is a positive development because, as stated by the Prime Minister himself, the biggest advantage of mobile phone is that it educates people in areas where education has not reached and together with Internet it allows them to interact with people in other parts of the country and the world, which ultimately helps improve their understanding of the world they live in. The Prime Minister has lamented that once government hospitals in the country were role models but with the passage of time their performance has deteriorated. Medical and educational institutions are getting budgets but not delivering mainly because of lack of proper vigilance, monitoring and accountability, which should not be a difficult task for the Government to do.
