Patriots
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The number of provinces in the country, or whatever remains of it after separation of East Pakistan, is practically the same as it was back in 1947, except that their total population is now nearly six times of what it was back then. And that fact alone necessitates creation of additional provinces in order to help administration and to bring the government closer to people.
It could even be argued that while keeping the number of provinces same as before, better administration and bringing government closer to people could be achieved through the installation of duly empowered local governments. However, due to the lust for power and the passion for having control over larger budgets to fiddle around with, the possibility of provinces agreeing to have duly empowered local governments are practically nil. We have seen how, through repeatedly hacking down the local government act, both Punjab and Sindh governments have stripped the local governments of nearly all their powers and the financial resources that go with these.
And this brings us back to the proposition that to improve administrations, to remove peoples grievances and to bring governments closer to people, the only practical proposition is to have more provinces in the country.
And the clear divide between rural and urban in the Sindh province makes it imperative to use sense rather than passions, admit this fact, and create additional province or provinces. In fact, during its last tenure, Punjab government passed bills for the creation of Southern Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces. And now that Sharif Brothers are ruling both Punjab and at the Centre, one would have thought they would have gone ahead and implemented the resolution. Instead, they have chosen to bury the resolutions which shows the extent of greed and deceitfulness of our leaders.
And Karachi has additional problems. It is the only city which has grown from a sleepy port town of around half a million to nearly twenty-three and a half million by some estimates. And this has come about through migration of Urdu speaking people at the time of partition, the natural growth in population as well as migration to Karachi from rural Sind as also from the rest of the country. While the bulk of Karachi population consist of Urdu-speaking people, it has substantial presence of people from interior Sindh, Pakhtuns, Punjabis and Balochs. Now apart from massive population of the city - which is more than that of many countries - the mix of the populations creates additional problems in the city. Therefore, for smooth functioning of the city, all ethnicities need to have proper representation in the body governing and managing the city.
Another handicap of the city is that because of population census not having been held after 1998, the substantial increase in Karachi population and the extent of change in the urban/rural ratio of Sindh population is not reflected in the seats in the Assemblies allotted to the respective regions. As a result, Karachi and urban Sindh are ruled from interior Sindh by Peoples Party which has scarce presence in Karachi and feels no obligation to serve it.
One of the biggest problems of Karachi is transport. Yet this is city with a population of 23.5 million lacks a circular railway. In fact the city had an operating circular railway which ran over hundred trains daily. Yet the circular railway was closed ostensibly for making a small loss - which was more due to negligence and deliberate running down of it - while other institutions making huge loses were allowed to continue. Twice attempts were made to revive the Circular railway, but failed, not due to lack of funds which the Japanese government offered on concessionary rates, but because of lack of interest by the Sindh government which failed to do the necessary ground work in time, resulting in the lapse of funds offered. Recently we saw Sindh Minister of Information and Local Government Sharjeel Memon become hyper-active, not arranging removal of filth which has accumulated all over the city, or doing something useful for the city, but felling down \'illegal\' marriage halls, in the spirit of a big-game hunger, enjoying every minute of the sport.
Also, we often hear of municipal workers not getting paid their salaries because of shortage of cash but according to reports, the government did not hesitate in drawing fifteen million rupees from state funds in order to arrange a public meeting in Lyari, in an attempt to boost Peoples Party\'s popularity there. Just shows what sort of interest the Sindh government has in Karachi.
At present, the federal and provincial governments, as well as the armed forces - working through Sindh Rangers - have taken up the job of making Karachi a city of lights again. However, this purpose can not be achieved merely through treating the systems and not the disease, like it has been done many times in the past. If the authorities are really serious, they have to find a way to give the control and management of the city to the stake-holders in the city: the Urdu-speaking people, Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Punjabis and Baluchs who are resident here instead of the city being managed through remote-control from interior Sindh, by Peoples Party which has scarce presence - and interest - in the city, and is interested only in what it can take out of it. And one sure way of achieving that objective is to make Karachi a province.
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/288552/making-karachi-a-province/
It could even be argued that while keeping the number of provinces same as before, better administration and bringing government closer to people could be achieved through the installation of duly empowered local governments. However, due to the lust for power and the passion for having control over larger budgets to fiddle around with, the possibility of provinces agreeing to have duly empowered local governments are practically nil. We have seen how, through repeatedly hacking down the local government act, both Punjab and Sindh governments have stripped the local governments of nearly all their powers and the financial resources that go with these.
And this brings us back to the proposition that to improve administrations, to remove peoples grievances and to bring governments closer to people, the only practical proposition is to have more provinces in the country.
And the clear divide between rural and urban in the Sindh province makes it imperative to use sense rather than passions, admit this fact, and create additional province or provinces. In fact, during its last tenure, Punjab government passed bills for the creation of Southern Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces. And now that Sharif Brothers are ruling both Punjab and at the Centre, one would have thought they would have gone ahead and implemented the resolution. Instead, they have chosen to bury the resolutions which shows the extent of greed and deceitfulness of our leaders.
And Karachi has additional problems. It is the only city which has grown from a sleepy port town of around half a million to nearly twenty-three and a half million by some estimates. And this has come about through migration of Urdu speaking people at the time of partition, the natural growth in population as well as migration to Karachi from rural Sind as also from the rest of the country. While the bulk of Karachi population consist of Urdu-speaking people, it has substantial presence of people from interior Sindh, Pakhtuns, Punjabis and Balochs. Now apart from massive population of the city - which is more than that of many countries - the mix of the populations creates additional problems in the city. Therefore, for smooth functioning of the city, all ethnicities need to have proper representation in the body governing and managing the city.
Another handicap of the city is that because of population census not having been held after 1998, the substantial increase in Karachi population and the extent of change in the urban/rural ratio of Sindh population is not reflected in the seats in the Assemblies allotted to the respective regions. As a result, Karachi and urban Sindh are ruled from interior Sindh by Peoples Party which has scarce presence in Karachi and feels no obligation to serve it.
One of the biggest problems of Karachi is transport. Yet this is city with a population of 23.5 million lacks a circular railway. In fact the city had an operating circular railway which ran over hundred trains daily. Yet the circular railway was closed ostensibly for making a small loss - which was more due to negligence and deliberate running down of it - while other institutions making huge loses were allowed to continue. Twice attempts were made to revive the Circular railway, but failed, not due to lack of funds which the Japanese government offered on concessionary rates, but because of lack of interest by the Sindh government which failed to do the necessary ground work in time, resulting in the lapse of funds offered. Recently we saw Sindh Minister of Information and Local Government Sharjeel Memon become hyper-active, not arranging removal of filth which has accumulated all over the city, or doing something useful for the city, but felling down \'illegal\' marriage halls, in the spirit of a big-game hunger, enjoying every minute of the sport.
Also, we often hear of municipal workers not getting paid their salaries because of shortage of cash but according to reports, the government did not hesitate in drawing fifteen million rupees from state funds in order to arrange a public meeting in Lyari, in an attempt to boost Peoples Party\'s popularity there. Just shows what sort of interest the Sindh government has in Karachi.
At present, the federal and provincial governments, as well as the armed forces - working through Sindh Rangers - have taken up the job of making Karachi a city of lights again. However, this purpose can not be achieved merely through treating the systems and not the disease, like it has been done many times in the past. If the authorities are really serious, they have to find a way to give the control and management of the city to the stake-holders in the city: the Urdu-speaking people, Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Punjabis and Baluchs who are resident here instead of the city being managed through remote-control from interior Sindh, by Peoples Party which has scarce presence - and interest - in the city, and is interested only in what it can take out of it. And one sure way of achieving that objective is to make Karachi a province.
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/288552/making-karachi-a-province/
