PESHAWAR, Sept 30: Naming government institutions after political leaders, which has become a passion of ruling political parties, serves no public interest but only gives birth to controversies.

A recent such controversy emerged over naming of the proposed university in Mardan after Abdul Wali Khan.

The Pakistan People's Party, a coalition partner of the Awami National Party in the provincial government, is perturbed over the naming of the proposed university after Wali Khan. "Establishment of the university had been announced by the late PPP leader, Benazir Bhutto, during her election campaign in Mardan and it should be named after her," said Zulfiqar Afghani, a PPP leader.

He said that even in the budget speech the provincial finance minister had announced setting up of Benazir Bhutto University in Mardan. "We hold Wali Khan in high esteem due to his relentless sacrifices, but naming of the Mardan university after him will create differences between the ANP and PPP," he said.

Regardless of their nomenclatures, institutions need to be strengthened to serve the public effectively. But political parties are not in the habit of public service, but keep their leaders alive by naming state-owned institutions after them.

One example is the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), which kept changing to Hayat Shaheed Teaching Hospital (HSTH) and then to the KTH several times in the past. The 1200-bed hospital was established through the efforts of the PPP leader and former NWFP governor Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao and was named after him, because he had died in a bomb explosion when the hospital was inaugurated.

Naming and renaming the KTH didn't affect its performance, but millions of rupees stationery and other stuff were changed each time its name was changed.

Same is the case with the Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital, Bannu, and the Maulana Mufti Mahmood Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan, built during the previous Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal provincial government. Khalifa Gul Nawaz is the grandfather of Akram Khan Durrani, the former chief minister of the NWFP, and Maulana Mufti Mehmood, father of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Both the hospitals lack basic facilities, but the party was more interested to name them after their leaders.

The Bacha Khan Chowk is one of the dirtiest place in the provincial capital but was named after Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Bacha Khan.

There were several public sector schools that had been named after other MMA leaders, but their names were changed soon their government ended.

At the national level, the trend is in progress. The PPP-led coalition government has named the Rawalpindi General Hospital, Islamabad airport and the Nawabshah district after Benazir Bhutto. The ANP is also trying to name the Peshawar airport as Bacha Khan Airport and Frontier House, Islamabad, as Pakhtunkhwa House. The NWFP Assembly has already passed a resolution in this respect.