The state sponsorship of stepmotherly treatment of the poor needs to be done away with
LARKANA: The Pakistani state is unresponsive to the disadvantaged and the less fortunate. It continues to serve the needs of the elite class only. This is why mega projects are designed by our policymakers to facilitate the privileged class. Because of this, there are deep divisions between socioeconomic classes and the alienation of various sections prevails in our society. Leaving homeless people to fend for themselves, plot allotment and various luxurious housing schemes are initiated for federal secretaries and other employees either free of cost or given at throwaway prices, serving only those who are already in the lap of luxury. Moreover, mega projects like the Metro Bus, Green Bus and Orange Train are to benefit the urban population only whereas a large chunk of our population living in the rural areas is denied such modern modes of transport.
It is noted with great concern that public-sector schools and colleges seldom receive adequate funds simply because the children of the wealthy never enroll there. Sadly, children of the common socioeconomic class sit on broken furniture or on classroom floors without fans or even electricity, and fan themselves with notebooks or textbooks to fight the hot and humid weather.
The picture at government hospitals is even darker than imagined, where the miseries of poor patients continue to multiply as medicines are unavailable and senior physicians do not attend to patients coming from humble backgrounds. Thus, hospitals, which are supposed to serve as relief centres, are transformed into ‘grief centres’ thanks to negligence and bad governance.
Policies designed to benefit the wealthy class can be gauged from the fact that this government has given about a Rs13 per kilogramme subsidy on sugar exports and no rocket science is needed to know that the beneficiaries are the business tycoons at the helm of the country’s affairs. Deprivation breeds depression, which results in even greater ills. It is binding upon the state to serve citizens irrespective of race, creed or political affiliation. The state sponsorship of stepmotherly treatment of the poor needs to be done away with. Otherwise, peace and progress in the country will remain a pipe dream.
Nazeer Ahmed Arijo
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2016.
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