LAHORE:
It is a constitutional and moral obligation of any sovereign state to cater to its citizens and meet their basic needs. State-funded welfare must only be for the sustenance of deserving beneficiaries and definitely not for those who lead a life of luxury.
While it does make sense to provide plots to state employees for the construction of a house to live in, it becomes an abuse when multiple subsidised plots are given to individuals who sell them to buy properties and assets in foreign countries. The civil and uniformed elite of this country are paid from the national exchequer for services rendered, along with pension, subsidised or free housing, tax rebates and medical facilities. The list of paid and political elites revealed in the Pandora Papers and the Panama Papers, holding offshore accounts and properties abroad, exposes the unchecked abuse of power. This debt-ridden country has to take foreign and domestic loans to pay for the salaries and subsidies of its paid elite. These debts can be curtailed if the state were to sell these plots at market rates and raise enough funds to meet non-development expenditures.
State lands allotted for golf courses and clubs at subsidised rates is definitely an abuse when the state has paucity of funds to provide hospitals and schools for the poor who cannot afford basic healthcare and education. Although it is a constitutional obligation to provide basic facilities and resources such as healthcare, education, clean drinking water, security of life, and property, the state seems to have outsourced this to the private sector.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2021.
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