CHAKWAL: A large amount of public money may go to waste after uplift projects worth millions of rupees in the hometown of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were abandoned by the Punjab government.

Gah is located some 25 kilometres to the west of Chakwal city and a number of development projects were started in the village in 2004 by the then President Musharraf as a goodwill gesture and as an attempt to improve relations with India after learning that the new Indian premier was from the small village in Chakwal.

The Punjab government was told to start work on the projects immediately and the provincial government, which was then led by Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, announced the construction of a carpeted road to the village as well as a basic health unit, a vocational training institute for women, a veterinary dispensary, an artificial insemination centre, a high school for boys, the up-gradation of two primary schools for girls and boys to middle schools, the construction of a one kilometre road to a girls school and a boundary wall for the village graveyard and funeral ground.

Uplift programmes worth Rs900 million were announced as goodwill gesture to India when Mr Singh was elected prime minister

It was estimated that all these projects will be completed by 2007 at a cost of Rs900 million.

The construction of the carpeted road to the village, the school for boys and the up-gradation of the primary schools were completed while others were abandoned halfway including the basic health unit, the veterinary dispensary, the artificial insemination centre and the vocational training centre.

Work on the boundary wall for the graveyard, the funeral ground, and the road to the girls’ school was never started even though tenders had been issued for them.

The buildings for the basic health unit and vocational training centre were built in 2009 and have been abandoned since. Wild growth now covers the courtyard and birds have made nests in the ceiling fans. The building for the veterinary dispensary was also built in 2009 though work on the staff’s residences was never started.

“Work on these projects was going on smoothly till 2008 when the PML-N took over the Punjab government. The new government did not take the uplift project seriously,” said Raja Ashiq Ali, the president of the Gah Development Organisation.

“When the development projects were started, we though the fate of our village will change. We thought the girls of the village and those from nearby villages will be able to get technical education and the people of the area will be treated at the basic health unit,” said a resident of the village, Abdul Khaliq.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that the government was not releasing funds for completing the development projects in Gah.

“Though the buildings of the vocational training institute and the basic health unit are complete, they will still require staff to be made functional and residences for staff will also need to be constructed. We need funds for these, which are not being released,” he added.

The District Works and Serviced Department has written eight letters since 2007 demanding for funds to be released.

The Indian government had also announced a development package for Gah when Manmohan Singh was elected prime minister in 2004. The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) of India finished its project of installing street lights that work on solar power and a water heater in the village mosque.

“We are thankful to the Indian government. The people of the village can now perform ablutions and take a shower at the mosque with hot water,” Raja Ashiq Ali said.

When asked, Deputy District Officer Buildings Mahir Shahbaz said his department had finished all the work it could with the funds it was given.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2016