Make sure the money is spent

LAHORE, June 17: The second budget of the Pervaiz Elahi government presented on Thursday may bring about considerable improvement in various sectors provided the chief minister makes sure that the money - Rs180 billion in total - allocated for various projects is spent, not saved.

When some underpasses in Lahore were completed in a record time, the chief minister was told that tens of millions of the estimated costs had been saved. This obviously meant that either the cost estimates were inflated or quality had been compromised.

So far, there are no reports whether the chief minister has tried to find out from the relevant officials how the 'miracle' was made possible. Though substantial allocations have been made for education, health, agriculture and law and order, there is need for better utilization of funds.

For example, though provision of free books to students up to middle standard is a good step which will enable many poor parents to send their children to schools, the chief minister should also take measures to improve the quality of education, in rural areas in particular.

He will be doing a great service by setting up institutions like Aitchison College in all parts of the province. It would be a good beginning if the chief minister announces one such institution for his own district or division.

Subsequently, such institutions should be established in all divisions and districts. In fact, more attention should be paid to rural areas to compensate the neglect of the past.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi's vision for the promotion of agriculture is welcome, but much more is needed to be done to exploit the real potential of the fertile lands. With a fair knowledge of what it takes, the chief minister should lay the foundation of a green revolution in Punjab.

A serious effort should be made to leave East Punjab behind. The decision to give state land to the landless is also a step in the right direction. Though successive governments have been making such announcements, they were not implemented.

The industrial sector in Punjab is almost 'dormant'. Investment is being made in various fields, excluding industry. As a consequence, unemployment is growing. Hundreds of thousands of young people enter the labour market every year but don't find jobs.

As a result, many of them join hands with criminals. To prevent such people from falling into the hands of outlaws, the government should take steps to provide them jobs. And this will be possible only with the industrialization.

All government employees would certainly praise the chief minister for his decision to raise their salaries by 15 per cent. The decision to give houses to all employees at the time of their retirement will also be appreciated.

Almost all ministers were happy on Thursday, possibly because of the entitlement they have earned to furnish their houses with unlimited funds and the billions left at their disposal in the new year's budget.

Women legislators, however, remained indifferent to the proceedings, perhaps because of the mention of statistics. Opposition benches heard the finance minister very peacefully, which was a good sign.