Sarah Mughal
The budget announcement for the fiscal year 2014-2015 has not taken anyone by surprise as it seems like the continuity of the same state policy in the affairs of spending and allocations. But even so, it sure has disappointed many who were expecting a relief for the common people.
The budget allocation has once again proved that as a government and as a nation our priorities have not changed. In the country where half of the population is illiterate, a major chunk of population has no access to clean water and relies on poor health facilities; only RS 26.8 billion has been allocated to Health sector while RS 30 Billion will be spent on Karachi-Lahore motorway.
It’s a shame that Pakistan has been in the headlines for months over sudden increase in the number of polio cases yet the construction cost of one transportation project is higher than the federal budget for health.
There is no denying the fact that transportation facilities and high standard roads are the indicator of development but it certainly does not come above health and education. With a heavy mandate in the parliament it was expected of the PML-N government to be able to make changes in the state’s spending priorities but unfortunately the budget doesn’t reflect any such practice.
We are saddened to believe that it’s more of the same that we get every year.