The state of affairs in the municipalities, especially in terms of politics and performance, is highly unsatisfactory
KHAIRPUR: The state of affairs in the country’s municipalities, especially in terms of politics and performance, is highly unsatisfactory. Some political parties have changed the shape of various aspects of governance, for better or for worse, but the biggest change is the killing of merit when selecting officials to run municipalities. For certain official posts, such as tehsil municipal administrator (TMA), there is no governmental structure. Unfortunately, these posts come under members of parliament who hire their own relatives or appoint persons of their choice. The current TMA of Gambat is the nephew of an MPA. Anyone can become a member TMA, even if they have no relevant experience.
In the Gambat tehsil, there is is supposed to be a Rs26 crore budget in the MPA’s account. The monthly budget of Gambat is approximately two crore rupees. In his past tenure, the MPA did not allot an adequate budget towards welfare plans. Currently, he places emphasis on road construction and lighting systems. The condition of Khuhra also paints a grim picture. The drainage system of the city of Khuhra is getting worse day by day. It has caused a high number of heinous maladies for the people of the city. The hub of the city, through which many travel for school and trade, and where a view of Mansher Lake rests, often has dirty water standing on the road. Hunger and unemployment prevail around the entire tehsil. The MPA is only doing redundant repair work. It seems he has no information regarding the hunger and unemployment plaguing the residents.
On a side note, several infrastructure projects do not seem to be ending any time soon. After two or three months of installation, the solar street lighting system stopped working. Now, the lights have been replaced by new ones. There is no maintenance team to check the lights on a weekly or monthly basis. They are installed and their security is left in the hands of the Almighty. This is a waste of the budget.
I advise the authorities concerned to take initiatives to save the public of Gambat from forthcoming dangers. The huge amount of money at the disposal of the TMA should be utilised in a proper way by establishing institutions and organisations that help solve people’s problems. We need proper tehsil offices to run the show in an honest manner. There should be meritocratic system for hiring these officers. Without checks and balances, the tehsil’s progress will be stalled.
Anees Ahmed Gilal
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2016.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
