- 08 Feb 2011
Where is civil society? - 02 Feb 2011
Dare to dream - 27 Jan 2011
An agenda for making parliament effective
- RSS
- Today's Paper
- Subscribe
- beta 2.1
Alerts
The politicisation of development
There is tremendous pressure on nuclear Pakistan to deliver as a developing state, to not become a failed state.
The writer is a PML-Q MNA [email protected]
There is tremendous pressure on nuclear Pakistan to deliver as a developing state and to not become, as many think, a failed state. If it doesn’t deliver, then what has happened in Egypt could well happen here. The government needs to truly govern for its people and be able to provide the services that citizens would expect any government to.
When I meet people in villages, I find that many are under the wrong impression that if some member of parliament has initiated a development scheme in their area, they are indebted to that MP for life and must also vote for him. The fact of the matter is that it is the right of every citizen to be provided such amenities and services. And for this, taxes are collected by the state.
Unfortunately in Pakistan, many constituencies are developed only on the basis of whether or not they voted for a particular party — usually the one that is in government. And if they did not, then, more often than not, they get left out of development schemes. This politicisation of development has to end. Every Pakistani needs a school, a basic health unit, access to clean drinking water, gas, electricity, roads and so on.
The whole concept of MNAs and MPAs being given funds for carrying out development work in their constituencies needs to end. For instance, I recently investigated the state of my own development schemes and, much to my dismay, found that, in most instances, they are incomplete (sometimes less than half the work has been completed) and shoddy building material has been used.
When I meet these people, I try to explain to them that they wouldn’t need to scream for basics and be living a life of squalor if their leaders were sincere. And the sense I get of how the people feel as a result of these exchanges is that they know that their national wealth is being squandered and looted and they are fed up. But they don’t know how to revolt against this corruption, and they also don’t know who will lead them.
For this, they need to be able to distinguish between sincere leadership and those who simply use the votes of the electorate for their own material interests and gain. To prevent this from happening, development funds should not be given to MPs directly. A separate mechanism should be devised, which ensures that they are used in a transparent manner. And if there is any embezzlement, then those who squander them should be held accountable and made to reimburse the national exchequer.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2011.
Reader Comments (13)
Opinion Latest Stories
IPL and the degradation of cricket
IPL is no longer just cricket; it was entertainment with Bollywood stars, music, drugs, parties all rolled into one.
Slowly, slowly …
Sharif is a known figure to the Indian elite and Delhi knows it can do business with him.
Democracy strikes back
Democracy has now struck back with real vengeance; this time, throwing out the entire ruling political hierarchy.
What really happened on May 11?
May 11 marked a huge democratic transformation and we need to deal with it.
The art of the possible
That people voted for the PTI in what are considered the MQM’s strongholds set off alarm bells.
London attack
The rise of religious fundamentalism in the UK is due to many factors, one of them being lack of assimilation.
An unending scourge
Terrorism appears to have become a feature in our lives that simply refuses to go away.
Drone drift
The truth is that had the state done an efficient job, the drone strikes may never have been necessitated.
Unfair criticism
In order to be an unbiased writer, Shafi should not & simply cannot go on & on against one particular group or party.
Saving fuel — an alternative view
It is absolutely essential the public learns what are exact costs, taxes and subsidies involved when consuming CNG.
Recent Slideshows
More in Opinion
Raymond Davis case: Bitter truths
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or derived from.
Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted © 2013 The Express Tribune News Network.
Technical feedback? [email protected]
Madam,
This is rather naive. Throughout the world over this practice is followed — even in the advanced countries. In the US it is called “pork barel” spending. Every senator and congressperson fights for his own state and his own constituency.
What is deplorable is that money is siphoned off by the corrupt. One indication of that is your example of using shoddy materials and poor workmanship.
There is nothing wrong with the idea; it is the way it is implemented that should be deplored and needs addressing. Recommend
well said,,, MARVI MEMON SAHIBA you are decently winning the heart and mind of all intellectuals of this chaotic country by your sagacity, soundness and true essence of writing .Above all presenting your inside full of sympathetic ideals towards poor people.. this is your unprecedented skill that you alone can put the pressure on government to change their corrupt and evil deeds(policies],,,PPP government should be awarded for their openly selling of government posts and giving preference to nepotism,red tapism and favoratism,,,FPSC have recently announced dozen of BP-17 posts for GILGIT-BALTISTAN,,,and there is no hope for competent candidates to approach that posts because they don’t have 5 to 10 lac rupees to pay in return of deserve posts,,,,the true and deserve intellectuals are looking for your support to kindly monitor the whole process so that the deserve and competent candidates could get their right of serving the NATION,PPP government is totally failed in this region they are busy in making heap of money which is paid to them through unfair means(selling of posts) ,,,,,,no doubt you are the most liking great politician in Pakistan and the task to monitor the whole process may flourish your political stature this region too……corruption is prevailed every corner of this country under the nose of this fragile,notorious government,,,,ppp have ever forgotten the famous slogan which was used to chanting by Z.A,B,,,mang raha hy har insan roti kapra aur makan,,,the slogan is used as in this modified form,,,cheekh raha hy har insan band kar do ab corruption ki dukan,,,Recommend
Madam! First, thumbs up once again for blatant self-promotion.
When people who are not in parliament share such opinions, its commentary and suggestion. You are in parliament, a member of a party that the present government is coveting! Please act on your suggestions, and then tell us what “you” have done.
And good work patronizing your constituents: “They” should realize who to vote for? Be careful what you ask for, why do you think you got elected? Recommend
In US there are local governments which “democratic” PPP put an end to in Pakistan.Recommend
end this now end that now without alternate policy ok let me suggest sarkari baaboos best spend funds honestly…i mean i agree @Meekal Ahmed lets start taking the pain of monitoring existing system instead of taking easiest prerogative of complaining about failuires..there cant be a system in this world that runs without trust on one pillar or the other of state.Recommend
the road to coruption to give the role of councillors to mnas and mpas whereas their role is to form policies.funds should not be allocated to the legislatorsRecommend
Esteemed Ms. Marvi,
It is Humanity, once again, begging you to answer the questions she asks of you every time you try to shine the lime light of your honorable self at this forum.
Pray, enlighten us what you think your job responsibilities are.
Are you doing your job with honesty and integrity?
Did you oppose the bill to approve 100 brand new lodges for the venal elected members of the parliament?
Which new lodge do you have your eye on?
Don’t you think the funds allocated for the new lodges should have been spent to built a few villages for the flood victims, stranded in tents for 8 months and counting?
Your humble servant
Humanity whom you expect to put you in the office *legally so that you and your ilk can party while the 180 million gadhay can go eat cake!*Recommend
HONESTY mr watso HONESTY is what is needed and discovered.Recommend
Very well said…Recommend
This is a very good idea. I have no idea of how it can possibly be implemented though.
The problem here is that every organisation in the country, be it development or state controlled enterprises etc etc has to obey the dictat of the government that is only ever interested in awarding it’s own cronies. This is how they repay loyal supporters.
How do we make all of these organisations a-political? I don’t know.
The railways or steel mills are examples in point. Why on earth is the government appointing it’s loyalist to run these companies? They should be run by well qualified, competent people who know these industries as well as possible. Recommend
Agreed.
The immediate question is what the alternative mechanism should be? Because, the last thing we would want to do is to create more barriers to spending the money, because a lot of development already don’t get spent.
We already have a solution implemented in the form of “gross-root” local governments. But their fate remains undecided, plus they are not necessarily the solution to ALL the problems. We’ve seen corrupt Nazims et. al. plundering people’s money. So maybe provinces need to implement stronger oversight on funds being spent by local bodies.Recommend
Ms. Marvi we have enough show horses at the top. What we really need are work horse, a few dedicated servants who will serve the people who elected them and the country they represent.Recommend
Madam,
we, Pakistani select our MNA’s MPA’s as leader. And they well knewn about our problems. And government give them funds its mean they should resolve the problem of there jurisdiction. And if in your jurisdiction shoddy material was used by your fond then you are responsible. Because we select you to protect our right. And if some one can not protect our right then he should not be a MNA or MPARecommend