Pakistan: LOCAL JOBS FOR LOCALS ONLY

Editorial

In the recent years, the Ministers had emerged more powerful and they are dictating the terms and order in violation of laws of the land and the constitution. There is no check to the highhandedness of the Ministers misusing official and administrative powers for their personal advantage. There is no institutional check on this administrative anarchy which may lead the Province to a great disaster sooner or later. Even senior most officials were found helpless as the Ministers are enjoying the support from the Chief Executives for the past two decades of more. The Chief Minister had granted complete autonomy to the Ministers to do whatever they want to do or deal with the administration or even with their own electorate. Since the Chief Minister needs the support of the parliamentary groups, all pressure groups of vested interests, they are dictating their terms and playing havoc with the economy and the administration. This trend had started following the partyless elections of General Ziaul Haq who allowed loot and plunder in return for political support to his highly personality rule over Pakistan. During this period, the funds were allocated to the Members of the Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies to win their support in forming the Government at the Centre and also in the provinces. From that period, the politics of PSDP had started and planning had gone to vultures and MPs resorted to day-to-day planning instead of long term planning for development meeting the basic economic needs of the people and the country. To this date, this policy is continuing. Every year Balochistan is wasting Rs 36 billions of its development funds as all the schemes included in the Provincial PSDP are worthless and having no economic impact. There is no intention to increase the revenue of the Provincial Government by spending money on development schemes generating revenue for the state. There is no intention to reduce poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy in Balochistan. Similarly, the Provincial PSDP has no option to create more jobs for the army of jobless people. Every year, more than 20 graduates and highly qualified people are passing out from the Universities of Balochistan and there is no plan to provide jobs for the qualified educated people by the elected representatives. In recent years, the Ministers were found involved in auctioning or selling Government jobs to the highest bidders or to their political constituents. Even small jobs reserved for local people at the local level had been transferred illegally to their own constituency through a manipulated administrative order and recruitment of their own political constituent is made without any fear that tomorrow they can be made accountable in courts of law when a more responsible Government takes over. In the recent past, a score of Ministers were caught, tried and convicted for such irregularities and massive embezzlement of public money. They remained in jail for long. Two of them were rescued by their party leaders by blackmailing the majority leader at the time of ministry formation. Both the detained and convicted Ministers were released from jail following a bargaining in ministry making. There must be a check on transfer of posts, mainly posts of low paid public servants, from one region to another only for the purpose of illegal recruitment of their own political constituents, close relatives are auctioning the posts to the highest bidders. This practice should be stopped and economic interests of local people and their right on post reserved for lowest paid employees are defended and Ministers are barred from committing any irregularity. Secretaries of the Administrative Departments should take a firm stand for not being part and parcel of the irregularities committed by their concerned Ministers. Let the Ministers take the legal responsibilities as the coming days will be very hard for the Ministers in which they will be made accountable. All the Ministers cannot escape to Dubai or to any safe haven after committing irregularities.