The caretaker Provincial Transport Minister Ibrahim Hassan Murad has announced a three-month extension of free travel facilities for students, following special instructions from the Punjab Chief Minister. According to an official press release from the Punjab government, this process was interrupted for some time in recent holidays, while thirty thousand students have been benefiting from this facility daily, and till now millions of students up to grade 12 have benefited from this facility on the Orange Line Metro Train and Speedo Bus Service. As claimed, in line with its education-friendly vision, the Punjab government is also ensuring the provision of free-of-interest motorcycles on EV technology for students so that more youths can continue their education journey easily.
The Punjab caretaker government is currently ruling the province beyond its legal tenure and blatantly taking steps that do not come under the prerogative of a caretaker setup even publically elected governments do not implement such measures because of their grave consequence on national kitty. After renovating religious shrines, repairing graveyards, and installing street lights in the roadways of their family and friends, the Punjab interim leaders are now working for the improvement of the education sector and the Social Welfare Department. The interim setup handed over thousands of public schools to the private sector and deprived school teachers of pension and gratuity and is now offering free travel to thousands of students on government expenses on a regular basis over the past several months.
Presently, the Punjab caretaker leaders have successfully stretched their role well beyond their constitutional mandate due to the peculiar political situations in the country. The interim rulers are actively working in various domains including pubic development work, education, and health sectors in fake demonstration of their pro-public policies, presumably as a future investment for their political careers in the province at a later stage.
Historically, Pakistan’s prevailing economic degradation and unceasing woes of Pakistanis are not the results of the country’s lack of resources, shortage of human capital or financial liquidity, and non-productivity of Pakistani soil but these conditions are the outcome of the kingly habits of the Pakistani rulers who always use National exchequer like their personal heirloom, distribute hard-earned taxpayers money among their discretionary projects along with offering subsidies, free electricity, flour, and sugar to promote their politics on public expenses. After all, Pakistan’s economy neither grows nor comes out of the unceasing turmoil until and unless our leaders consider them accountable to the public and bring discipline in governmental affairs, which is the beginning point of the long journey toward self-sufficiency and progress.
