Re: Revolutionary expediency
This is just a starter.
Five-year PML-N performance in Punjab - thenews.com.pk
Five-year PML-N performance in Punjab
Dr. Miftah Ismail Tuesday, March 19, 2013
From Print Edition
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**As the nation goes to polls and voters try to decide which party to vote for, one thing they will look for is the partyâs track record —- if they have one, that is. During the last five years, PML-Nwas privileged to serve the people of Punjab, and before we examine the partyâs promises it is only proper that we look at PML(N)âs recent record in Punjab.
**
Aristotle said that the most important job in the world is that of parenting: if we can raise our children to be productive members of society, many of our problems will be solved. In modern times of course it is not just the parent, but the entire community, including teachers, media and governments that are involved in shaping the minds of our youth. Our youth are our future. Educating our youth properly and giving them a chance to compete with the best in the world should the highest priority of the government. Accordingly, in the five years of its tenure, the PML (N) government has accorded education sector the highest priority. The greatest linguistic divide in Pakistan is not between any of its regional languages, but between the elites who can speak English and the masses that cannot. Mian Shehbaz Sharif has endevoured to change that by providing to the poorest of the poor an elite education enabling them to learn English and to progressively master modern scientific and technical education. Shehbaz Sharif is also aware of the growing digital divide between rich and poor and is determined to ensure that the information age does not leave our poor behind.
It is not possible to encapsulate all the efforts of a government in one article, but to me some of PML-Ngreat achievements are the establishment of 8 Daanish School campuses in the southern districts of Punjab that provide the highest level of education to the poorest of the poor, and where each and every student has been admitted only on merit. PML-Ngovernment has also created the Punjab Education Fund to finance the education of poor deserving students in private sector schools so that any poor or lower middle class parent who wishes to send his or her child to private school can do so. Mian Shehbaz Sharif and his team have also created the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund, the first of its kind in South Asia, which funds the education of meritorious scholars in engineering and medical colleges, universities, etc. PEEF currently has about Rs. 10 billion in its endowment and provides scholarships and stipend to about 40000 students. It is run very ably by Dr. Amjad Saqib, perhaps one of the finest public servants in this country.
In addition Punjab government during the last 5 years has trained over 120,000 teachers, set up computer labs in over 4200 schools, and upgraded and provided missing facilities in thousands of schools. Punjab government has also opened 69 new colleges, 3 medical colleges and one university in its tenure. And through a programme that started with the 2011 budget, the government has distributed over 150,000 laptops to scholars strictly on merit.
Even if we ignore all of Mian Shehbaz Sharifâs achievements in the education sector, PML-Ndeserves publicâs commendation just on the basis of its determined fight against the dengue virus. If our federal government had fought terrorism and the energy crisis with the same determination that Punjab government used against dengue, today we would have no terrorism or load shedding in the country. In addition to fighting dengue and taking strict action against spurious medicines, Punjab government has upgraded and built new hospitals, including one 410-bed hospital in Bahawalpur and a cardiac disease institute in Rawalpindi.
Since prevention is better than cure, the Punjab government has also established a modern Waste Management programme in Lahore in collaboration with Turkish companies. If given another opportunity this is a programme PML-Nwishes to establish in other cities of the country. Encouragingly, PML-Nremains committed to work with industry to prevent polluted water from entering our water streams and canals and set up waste water treatment plants wherever necessary. They plan, during the next 5 years, to severely curtail mortality due to Hepatitis and diarrhea, and are also committed to meeting all Millennium Development goals regarding sanitation.
A very innovative programme Punjab government instituted was the Punjab Skill Development Fund, which has provided vocational training so far to 18000 young people in southern Punjab. The Chairman of this fund was the astute Mr. Asad Umer, before he joined PTI after Imran Khan Sahibâs Karachi public meeting. Also noteworthy is an Internship programme that pays a Rs. 10,000 a month stipend to new graduates entering into the labour force during a period of internship either in the public sector or the private sector.
The theme of employment has been important to Mian Shehbaz Sharif, and during the last five years a Yellow cab and Green Tractor programme has provided employment to more than 200,000 young people. At the other end of the spectrum, the government is providing completely free incubator services to small companies in the field of information technology at the Arfa Technology Park, a programme run by the brilliant scientist Dr. Umer Saif.
During the last five years, Punjab has faced unprecedented energy shortages in terms of both natural gas and electricity. The Punjab government requested the CCI to allow provinces to set up in the private sector power projects of more than 50 mw, and this initiative of the PML(N)âs Punjab government was accepted. PML-Ngovernment has in the last five years issued LOIâs to private parties in coal, solar and hydro projects of over 1500 MW. However the federal government neither issued a tariff nor signed a Power Purchase Agreement with even a single party, thus nullifying Punjab governmentâs efforts in the field of electricity generation.
Yet as a stop-gap measure, and knowing fully well that grid connected electricity can only be fixed at the federal level, Punjab government has come up with some innovative schemes, giving solar panels and lights to students, helping farmers with research to set up bio-gas and biomass energy plants, and converting some farms to drip irrigation to lessen the need of water and energy.
All of these achievement against the backdrop of Punjab having a fiscal and development budget of only around Rs. 8000 per citizen, compared to KP having about Rs. 12500, Sindh Rs. 13,500 and Balouchistan Rs. 19,500. So even with spending only about 60%, on a per capita basis, of what other provinces do, Punjab has been able to deliver better health care, education, infrastructure, flood protection and policing.
I think PML(N)âs stewardship of Punjab has been exemplary. I believe Mian Shehbaz Sharif has been able to create the required fiscal space in Punjab because of two important factors: one, no corruption and two, competence. And this is what this nation needs.
(The writer is a former head of the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade, and is a member of PML-N’s Manifesto Committee)
