Pakistan is amongst those countries in the world where very little funds are spent on education, health and public interest projects and whenever there is an emergency in the country or the economic conditions deteriorate, work on the proposed development projects stops.
The disadvantage of which is that even in this modern age our people are deprived of water, electricity, gas and other basic facilities. Moreover look at the irony that the incomplete facilities provided to the people are in its place heavy taxes are also collected from them and very high utility bills are sent to them every month.
If the current situation of the country is examined the development projects of the people have been stopped from two years due to the economic crisis and the country is suffering from political anarchy. 29 billion has been planned to be cut in the budget of the schemes which is rumored to be a move by the caretaker government before the general elections to be held on February 8 next year.
However this decision will help to fulfill the goal of the IMF and remove the concerns of some political circles. It should be remembered that out of the budget of 90 billion 12 crore allocated for the schemes of members of parliament, 61 billion 28 crore has been released.
According to an esteemed website the caretaker government has prepared to ban the release of funds for the schemes of members of the assembly. According to web sources it is proposed to stop the release of more funds for the schemes of the members of the assembly during the current financial year.
With this initiative the process of issuing funds worth about 39 billion rupees will be stopped. The caretaker government has decided to kill two birds with one arrow. On one hand by stopping the release of funds for the schemes of members of the assembly and on other hand the goal of reducing the expenditure under the IMF program will be met. Meanwhile the reservations of some political circles regarding the continuation of funds for the schemes of the members of parliament in the election year will be removed. According to government sources it is proposed not to release funds for the schemes of members of the assembly during the rest of the current financial year 2023-24.
If seen the said funds are the right of the people for which they support their parties. Therefore to suggest that these funds are likely to be used as bribes during elections is a very weak narrative. In fact the government system and the Election Commission of Pakistan have to control that public funds cannot be used elsewhere.
The people also remember well that 17 billion rupees of Dam funds are lying around about which concerns are being expressed that these funds will not be used for the general elections. So it is necessary that the said funds should be spent on the development projects of the people who are already suffering from various problems and for their legitimate development work, they are lying on the laps of these elected members of the assembly.
The first responsibility is to solve the problems of the people but this is not the case that is the reason why their problems have been going on for years. Hence if such a decision is really made, it should be withdrawn and public development should be use for masses.
The funds allocated for the schemes should be frozen for the time being so that they can be spent on ongoing projects after the general elections.
If this is not done the development projects of the people will be pushed back for another five years, which the people of this poor country cannot afford. It is hoped that the higher authorities will pay full attention to this point and in the interest of the public the funds should be used for the purpose for which they are allocated.
