The city of lights, Karachi, is quite literally the crown jewel of Pakistan. It’s contribution to Pakistan’s total revenue is 70%, while its annual GDP accounts to Rs114 billion, topping all other provinces. Despite being the backbone of the country, the metropolis remains in shambles. Both the federal and the provincial governments fail to take any responsibility for the development of Karachi and instead are quick to blame on each other.
With a dilapidated health and education system, lack of infrastructure and an ill-maintained transport system, Karachi is rife with every single issue imaginable. When the budget for Sindh was presented in 2017, the mayor of Karachi, Wasim Akhtar, asserted that Karachi had been completely neglected and accused the ruling PPP party of “bad governance”. He also claimed that the budget was a “sheer insult to the people’s mandate”. Despite being the major source of revenue for the country, a miserable amount was spent for developing the city. It is the belief of many that the ruling PPP government does not tend to the needs of the people of Karachi. The people’s lack of support was witnessed in the recent elections where the PPP did not bag a single seat in Karachi, yet managed to form the provincial government.
While this political humdrum continues, the people of the city remain in miserable conditions and somehow find a way to barely get by. It is about time that political parties stopped this blame game and worked to ameliorate the everyday problems that citizens are facing.
Muhammad Ibrahim Ayaz
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2020.
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