Poor performance

Ever since it came to power, the PTI government has been claiming to build Naya Pakistan which will be free from corruption and injustice, where people will enjoy the basic facilities and where there will be millions of jobs. Nearly three years have passed, the government has neither created new jobs nor done anything to bring down the country’s poverty levels. At present, there are high levels of frustration and insecurity among people. Almost every anti-graft campaign was launched against the members of the opposition parties, who were critical of the government’s performance in various fields. The economy is showing no sign of recovery, and the volume of foreign loans is increasing. Prices of petroleum products and other essential commodities have skyrocketed – the price hike has made the lives of the poor and the middle class more miserable. Is there any area where the government has performed well? Employees are helplessly asking for an increase in their salaries. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), teachers were subjected to the worst form of torture and violence by the police because they raised their voices for their rights. Earlier this year, Islamabad turned into a battleground when the police used force to disperse protesters who gathered in front of parliament and demanded that the government raised their salaries.

Whenever the government is questioned on its performance, the sitting ministers blame the opposition for misquoting the facts and figures, claiming that all economic indicators are encouraging and that the price hike is because of the expensive contracts signed by the previous governments with the foreign companies. These ministers, however, do not know that lawmakers of their own party are also publicly raising questions on the performance of the government. They are also demanding funds from the government to carry out some development work in their respective constituencies.

In the last three years, the government replaced three finance ministers. It seems that no one has a concrete plan to pull the country out of the multiple crises that it is facing.

Guldar Khan Wazir

Loralai