Editorial

A cruel share-out

Punjab is allocated a vastly disproportionate development share compared to all other provinces

Editorial March 16, 2016

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. PHOTO: APP

There can be no clearer example of the way in which the PML-N government discriminates in favour of the province of Punjab in the distribution of the annual development budget that is used at the discretion of parliamentarians. Punjab is allocated a vastly disproportionate share compared to all other provinces. The amount allocated to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan is less than that allocated to Islamabad, a city with a population of less than two million. More than half of the total Rs19 billion has gone to Punjab. Balochistan, by far the most under-developed of the provinces, got 2.3 per cent or Rs445 million — little more than chicken-feed in the overall picture of development funding. To the surprise of some observers, K-P fared little better getting Rs480 million or 2.5 per cent. Sindh got 4.2 per cent of the funding.

That there is something fundamentally wrong with the proportions of allocation would be obvious to a primary school student — even a primary school student in a government school. If this was a government truly committed to the development of the entire nation, then the proportions would have been a more equitable reflection of true development needs rather than the political ambitions of the PML-N, which is cementing its vote bank for the next election. The allocation speaks of wildly discriminatory behaviour, both for and against, and feeds directly into the inter-provincial rivalries that so bedevil the task of nation-building.

If anything, the allocations to Punjab should have been halved for several years in order to allow other provinces a reasonable chance of ‘catching up’ — but that would have been a step in the direction of true equity that the PML-N was never likely to make. There are any number of arguments presented as to why Punjab should get the lion’s share of any money on the table; but unless the sitting government is willing to use positive discrimination in the formula for funding allocation, then other provinces are always going to be the losers. They will never develop the capacity to effectively spend development funds and will forever be beggars. Shameful — but we expected neither less nor different.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.

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COMMENTS (2)

Shahid | 8 years ago | Reply What else do you expect from the Sharif brothers? Why is everybody so surprised? You can't fault them honestly because that has been there their politics since start. When they pick up the map of Pakistan, they only see Punjab. Within Punjab, they only see Lahore and Islamabad (although Islamabad is not part of Punjab, but the Sharif's still view it so). So there's noting surprising in it. And they are not idiots in their strategy; Pakistan's parliamentary democracy existence is such that if a party can win big in Punjab, then they will form the government. Sharif's have clearly taken this lesson to the heart. @Tareen: No my friend, it's actually not shameful that not many replied because their reply wouldn't make much of a difference. And Sharifs' lopsided favor of Punjab is known to all from day one, and people have been decrying it since then. But nothing changes. So i guess people are just tired of saying the same thing again and again while nothing happens.

Tareen | 8 years ago | Reply Equally shameful that that there are no comments here. This is an absolute outrage! People who vote for this party are partners in crime.

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