| 20 April 2004 | Tuesday | 29 Safar 1425 |
Spain's correct decision
Textbook delays
National Reconstruction Bureau chairman Daniyal Aziz, while addressing a seminar in Islamabad the other day, called the devolution plan a "break from status quo". That is very obvious. What is more important, however, is the need to assess whether this "break" has been for the better.
A brainchild of the NRB, the devolution plan was put in place in October 2001 when elected local bodies took office. The idea was to devolve power to the grass roots level through elected representatives of the people who would take the reins of local governance at the union council, town council, tehsil and district levels.
But the way the system was evolved, it initially bypassed the provinces, and abolished the offices of deputy commissioners and magistrates, with the centre directly transferring powers of day-to-day governance to the districts. In response to the provinces' objections, however, the NRB relented and agreed to give them the role of a watchdog over the local bodies.
Elections to local bodies were held on a non-party basis, but a year later the general election was held on a party-basis, which put certain parties in power in the provincial and central governments.
It was natural that this should have caused a sense of unease among district governments that now became subservient to their new masters in the form of the provincial governments - some of which did not share the political inclinations of the local governments.
The result of this anomaly in the system has been a lack of trust between the local and provincial governments. Nazims from across the country have often had to seek help from the centre, complaining that the provincial governments do not release funds for them on time.
The seminar in question was just another example of this flaw in the system where the NRB chairman chose to address the nazims who had been invited to Islamabad - whether with or without the knowledge of their respective provincial governments is not known.
The fact is that the NRB can at best reassure the nazims of the federal government's support for them but it can do little besides. It is the provincial governments that will have to release funds to the local bodies for the latter to be able to function properly, and asking the provinces to do so falls outside the purview of the NRB.
More than the nazims and the local bodies, the real victims of this problem-ridden system have been the people. The "break from status quo" has meant virtually a breakdown of the administrative and law and order system for many communities at the local level, with citizens having often to run from one government office to another to have their problems and needs attended to.
This is especially true for people living within the jurisdiction of a district government whose political sympathies may be different from those of the ruling set-up in its province. The NRB needs to acknowledge that the major flaw in the devolution plan was the bypassing of the provinces.
Power should have first been devolved from the centre to the provinces and from there further down to the district, tehsil and union councils. The devolution plan can still work if such anomalies are removed. That task will, of course, involve adjustments and modifications in the working of the system rather sticking to a rigid position.
Spain's correct decision
Spain's decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq is the logical outcome of the Socialist Party's electoral victory last month. A day after being sworn in as prime minister, Mr Rodriguez Zapatero asked the new defence minister to have Spain's 1,300 troops withdrawn from Iraq "in the shortest possible time".
During his election campaign, Mr Zapatero had said he would bring back the troops if the UN did not take over Iraq politically and militarily by June 30. In his television address on Sunday, he said there was no possibility of this happening by June 30.
The speed with which Mr Zapatero acted showed tactical brilliance, for he has pre-empted any attempt by the opposition to forestall or delay what indeed is a sound decision. By this decision, Spain has joined hands with two major continental powers - France and Germany - which have serious reservations about America's handling of the Iraq situation.
As correctly predicted by many of America's friends, Iraq is now slipping into chaos. American troops are suffering heavy casualties, having themselves killed 300 Iraqis, mostly civilians, in Fallujah alone. The battle for Fallujah is not over yet.
The situation could turn worse in terms of human suffering if a negotiated solution is not found soon. In the south, the Shia followers of Moqtada al-Sadr seem determined to get rid of foreign occupation. No wonder, Mr Zapatero would like to withdraw his troops from an Iraq that increasing looks like turning into a Vietnam.
Those who carried out the barbaric act of bombing the Madrid trains last month must be sorry now. Mr Zapatero's decision has nothing to with the bombing, nor with Osama bin Laden's offer of truce to Europe - seen as a move to divide America and Europe.
He has acted in a way that serves his country's best interests. His move could perhaps influence other governments' thinking on the question of exposing their troops to death for no reason other than that of serving America's interests as defined by the neo-cons.
Textbook delays
Despite all claims made by the Sindh government last week, nearly three million primary school students are yet to receive their free textbooks for this academic session. The Sindh Textbook Board, which is responsible for producing these books, says that the delay is owing to the fact that consignment of imported paper for printing these books has not arrived yet.
One wonders why this matter was not taken up with the relevant authorities well in time so that the logistics of the shipment could have been worked out to ensure early delivery. Because of this delay, most primary school students in the province have already lost nearly a month of studies for no fault of theirs.
The delay comes shortly after a province-wide strike by teachers demanding better working conditions. On that occasion, too, classes were not held, adding to the loss of academic time.
Many of these children, particularly those in rural areas, have been put in schools by parents who have very limited means of livelihood. If studies are interrupted for long periods, many of these children will naturally be put to work by their families.
As it is the neglect of basic education by successive governments is all too apparent. The textbook incident in Sindh is a clear indication that not enough realization is there to take primary education more seriously.
Thirteen million out of a total of fifty million school-going children (between five and nine years old) in the country do not go to school at all. The school drop-out rate has risen from 40 per cent in 1996-97 to about 54 per cent in 1999-2000.
These are tell-tale indications of a situation that needs to be corrected. Instead of focussing on the hiring of teachers and establishment of literacy centres, the provincial government needs to take a more serious approach to the state of primary education. Or else the province as a whole will remain hamstrung by the accumulated effect of massive illiteracy and ignorance.