VIEW: A tale of two parties Andleeb Abbas
The danger with cash and ready-made food schemes is that they turn respectable individuals into desperate beings whose own abilities and faculties in the long run become undermined
When do two enemies become best friends? When they either have a common enemy or a common cause. The prime minister and the PML-N chief were seen for the umpteenth time shaking hands, declaring commitments and announcing a united stand to deal with the catastrophic impact of raging waters submerging one-fifth of Pakistan. On paper it looked like a good move but whether the move was to save the country or save themselves was always going to remain a lurking doubt in the mind of the general public, given the number of times we have seen this political bonhomie turning into personal mudslinging.
Reputation always precedes the person or the party. Past stories associated with any future move have a big impact on the credibility of the institution or person. The problem faced by the two biggest political parties in Pakistan the PPP and the PML-N is that the tales associated with the deeds of these two parties are so damning that even the international community, though moved by this unprecedented tragedy, is not willing to put its donations in hands that are renowned for bungling and corruption. The recent statement by the man of the highest stature in the development world, Mr Ban Ki-moon, that, despite the unprecedented scale of this tragedy, the international community is hesitant to come forward because they fear that the money may go in the wrong hands, is a moment of shame for our leaders and also for our nation. Thus, directly and indirectly, the men in charge have again deprived millions of the desperate flood affectees the access to aid that could really help them survive this time of dire straits.
Unaffected by this scandalous situation, the leaders of the two parties are merrily going their respective ways to put up a fake show of concern and a so-called emergency action plan. The prime minister has made a plan to appear in all the places his advisors have told him are the right media-hogging points and is going all out to be where he needs to be seen. However, in this hurry to appear there, he does not realise that these are stage-managed faked camps made up by the party workers who, on ground, have done little work to show their leader. For the second time last week the prime minister went to a hurriedly set-up fake relief camp in Dera Ismail Khan near the airport. The people from other areas, enticed by the prospect of getting money and things from the prime minister, waited for hours only to have the prime minister come in, talk for a few minutes and leave without giving them cash or kind. The camp was wound up soon after he left, leaving the people desperately hungry, upset and stranded.
Not to be outdone by this display of concern, PML-N leaders are also having extensive photo sessions of their visits to affected areas but the ground reality and facts show no proof of relief work by their workers. Nawaz Sharif finally called a meeting of party leaders to launch a campaign almost two weeks after the devastation had ravaged the people physically and mentally. It is when both parties realised the futility of their efforts that they decided to join hands in an effort to make people believe that they can still deliver. However, the past haunts them and their claims.
Mr Nawaz Sharif has a terrible record of fund collection and mismanagement. During his reign, he started the infamous National Debt Retirement Fund and the unsuspecting public vested their monies in it generously, hoping that the mountain of debt under which the country was economically reeling would be lessened, giving space to more development work for the country. That was not to be as the funds disappeared into the pockets of the collectors. There was no transparency and no accountability. Where did all the money go is the million-dollar question still unanswered. Even now Mr Nawaz Sharif wants Rs 250 billion to be contributed by the provinces and the government is slashing 30 percent of the development fund to feed into the flood relief fund. The intention is still to make the battered public pay.
With such a proven record of betraying public trust, it is laughable how these two parties can go about making promises of complete honesty and transparency. Thus the new ploy of bringing in an independent commission and board comprising above the board people has fallen flat on its face. The honeymoon lasted less than a week and the inevitable separation took place. The PPP is now making another commission and naming it the National Oversight Disaster Management Council (NODMC), comprising the same old faces of representatives of the four provinces and some vague names of private sector participants. Upset with this exclusion, Mr Sharif has announced another commission that is named the Coordination Committee for Flood Relief.
The latest buzzword in political circles is commission. Desperate to save their sinking popularity, they are making announcements that are not well thought out on their practical implementation and overall impact. The approach of most of this scattered and disjointed relief effort is impulsive and short-term. Both the parties are racing to steal the media limelight and dole out money, not realising that they are making people dependent on charity handouts that are actually devaluing the human potential each individual has. The danger with these cash and ready-made food schemes is that they turn respectable individuals into desperate beings whose own abilities and faculties in the long run become undermined.
The NODMC has decided to give Rs 20,000 each to every flood-affected family and this itself is a huge folly. What you need to do is rehabilitate their ability to become useful and contributing members of their families and community. This would imply supporting them by giving them agri-inputs rather than cash to run their farming activities, this would involve providing brick and mud to resurrect their homes and this would involve providing livestock for them to start earning their livelihood. These people have lost their homes and community but not their dignity. Charity handouts by the bigwigs to the less fortunate are condescending and arrogant in nature and demean the spirit of the recipient. The restoration of their self-confidence, skills and ability is the only long-term solution for the revival of sustainable socio-economic activity in the country. Doling out alms and charity will ensure that we perpetuate beggary and dependency. As they say, give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for life.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010/08/29/story_29-8-2010_pg3_3
The danger with cash and ready-made food schemes is that they turn respectable individuals into desperate beings whose own abilities and faculties in the long run become undermined
When do two enemies become best friends? When they either have a common enemy or a common cause. The prime minister and the PML-N chief were seen for the umpteenth time shaking hands, declaring commitments and announcing a united stand to deal with the catastrophic impact of raging waters submerging one-fifth of Pakistan. On paper it looked like a good move but whether the move was to save the country or save themselves was always going to remain a lurking doubt in the mind of the general public, given the number of times we have seen this political bonhomie turning into personal mudslinging.
Reputation always precedes the person or the party. Past stories associated with any future move have a big impact on the credibility of the institution or person. The problem faced by the two biggest political parties in Pakistan the PPP and the PML-N is that the tales associated with the deeds of these two parties are so damning that even the international community, though moved by this unprecedented tragedy, is not willing to put its donations in hands that are renowned for bungling and corruption. The recent statement by the man of the highest stature in the development world, Mr Ban Ki-moon, that, despite the unprecedented scale of this tragedy, the international community is hesitant to come forward because they fear that the money may go in the wrong hands, is a moment of shame for our leaders and also for our nation. Thus, directly and indirectly, the men in charge have again deprived millions of the desperate flood affectees the access to aid that could really help them survive this time of dire straits.
Unaffected by this scandalous situation, the leaders of the two parties are merrily going their respective ways to put up a fake show of concern and a so-called emergency action plan. The prime minister has made a plan to appear in all the places his advisors have told him are the right media-hogging points and is going all out to be where he needs to be seen. However, in this hurry to appear there, he does not realise that these are stage-managed faked camps made up by the party workers who, on ground, have done little work to show their leader. For the second time last week the prime minister went to a hurriedly set-up fake relief camp in Dera Ismail Khan near the airport. The people from other areas, enticed by the prospect of getting money and things from the prime minister, waited for hours only to have the prime minister come in, talk for a few minutes and leave without giving them cash or kind. The camp was wound up soon after he left, leaving the people desperately hungry, upset and stranded.
Not to be outdone by this display of concern, PML-N leaders are also having extensive photo sessions of their visits to affected areas but the ground reality and facts show no proof of relief work by their workers. Nawaz Sharif finally called a meeting of party leaders to launch a campaign almost two weeks after the devastation had ravaged the people physically and mentally. It is when both parties realised the futility of their efforts that they decided to join hands in an effort to make people believe that they can still deliver. However, the past haunts them and their claims.
Mr Nawaz Sharif has a terrible record of fund collection and mismanagement. During his reign, he started the infamous National Debt Retirement Fund and the unsuspecting public vested their monies in it generously, hoping that the mountain of debt under which the country was economically reeling would be lessened, giving space to more development work for the country. That was not to be as the funds disappeared into the pockets of the collectors. There was no transparency and no accountability. Where did all the money go is the million-dollar question still unanswered. Even now Mr Nawaz Sharif wants Rs 250 billion to be contributed by the provinces and the government is slashing 30 percent of the development fund to feed into the flood relief fund. The intention is still to make the battered public pay.
With such a proven record of betraying public trust, it is laughable how these two parties can go about making promises of complete honesty and transparency. Thus the new ploy of bringing in an independent commission and board comprising above the board people has fallen flat on its face. The honeymoon lasted less than a week and the inevitable separation took place. The PPP is now making another commission and naming it the National Oversight Disaster Management Council (NODMC), comprising the same old faces of representatives of the four provinces and some vague names of private sector participants. Upset with this exclusion, Mr Sharif has announced another commission that is named the Coordination Committee for Flood Relief.
The latest buzzword in political circles is commission. Desperate to save their sinking popularity, they are making announcements that are not well thought out on their practical implementation and overall impact. The approach of most of this scattered and disjointed relief effort is impulsive and short-term. Both the parties are racing to steal the media limelight and dole out money, not realising that they are making people dependent on charity handouts that are actually devaluing the human potential each individual has. The danger with these cash and ready-made food schemes is that they turn respectable individuals into desperate beings whose own abilities and faculties in the long run become undermined.
The NODMC has decided to give Rs 20,000 each to every flood-affected family and this itself is a huge folly. What you need to do is rehabilitate their ability to become useful and contributing members of their families and community. This would imply supporting them by giving them agri-inputs rather than cash to run their farming activities, this would involve providing brick and mud to resurrect their homes and this would involve providing livestock for them to start earning their livelihood. These people have lost their homes and community but not their dignity. Charity handouts by the bigwigs to the less fortunate are condescending and arrogant in nature and demean the spirit of the recipient. The restoration of their self-confidence, skills and ability is the only long-term solution for the revival of sustainable socio-economic activity in the country. Doling out alms and charity will ensure that we perpetuate beggary and dependency. As they say, give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for life.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010/08/29/story_29-8-2010_pg3_3
