Abusing perks

State-funded welfare must only be for sustenance of the beneficiaries and definitely not to lead a life of luxury. While it does make sense to provide plots to state employees for construction of a house to live in, it becomes an abuse when multiple subsidised plots are given to individuals. They sell these plots to buy properties and assets in foreign countries, as millions live in poverty with no house and not enough money to have two meals a day. The elite of this country are paid salaries from the national exchequer for services rendered, along with pension, subsidised or free housing, tax rebates and medical facilities.

The list of the paid and political elite revealed in the Pandora and the Panama Papers exposes the unchecked abuse of power. This debt-ridden country has to take foreign and domestic loans to pay salaries and subsidise the luxurious lifestyles of its paid elite. These debts can be curtailed, if the state were to sell these plots at market rates and raise enough funds to meet non-development expenditures. Allocating lands to golf courses and clubs at subsidised rates when there are no funds to provide hospitals and schools for the poor is a definite atrocity.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore