Name: Asif Khan Subject: Pakistani Society and Culture Date: 2nd September, 2016

Examination: M.Phil First Semester (2016)

Q1. Part- II
Lack of Good Governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its possible solutions
Good Governance is also one of the key to sustainable development. Honest and competent
governance affects every aspect of one’s life from the protection of our basic human rights to
food and water security. Governance is more than just “government”. It includes everything
from an impartial and efficient judicial system, to schools and healthcare, to an economic
system that offers job security and a living wage. Its foundation is a strong and vital civil
society.

Governance is more than mere management. It is not only about decision making, policy
formulating, priority settings but also implementation or results. Due to the bad governance
education, health, civic services, agricultural infrastructure – is in the state of paralysis. Even
the most basic social needs of citizens are not fulfilled. Law and order, a fundamental duty of
state has suffered a great setback. People do not feel safe and secure. Places of worship have to
be guarded for the fear of terrorism. This sorry state of law and order scared the investors away
from the country thereby severely harming the economy.

One of the sole causes that gives birth to many other problems and yes if this problem is cured
well, then our province can easily overcome all other problems is governance and this is the
reason that I have listed lack of good governance as the second major problem of our province.
In the sections to come, I will discuss the major reasons of bad governance in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, its impact on the people of this area and the possible solutions to overcome this
issue.

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I. Reasons of Bad Governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

Following are the some of the significant causes behind the lack of good governance in the
country.

1. Political Instability: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become a laboratory for the political parties
where every political party on coming into power makes new experiments, thus badly damaging
the governance in the province. On the contrary, if we look at Punjab or Sindh, we may observe
that PML is in power since the last decade in Punjab and PPP in Sindh, thus there is consistency
in the policies of the government. The people voted for MMA in the 2003 elections, PPP and
ANP in the 2008 elections and PTI in the 2013 elections. Every time a new government comes
it declares the old systems an anathema, throws it away and establishes a new one. After so
many experiments and lack of political instability we have not been able to achieve the desired
results, thanks to poor governance.
2. Lack of Honest Leadership: This is one of our sad dilemmas that we haven’t come across a
honest leader who could put the province on the track of development. The religious leaders
have made us fool on the name of religion, the nationalist parties on the name of nationalism
and the emerging parties on the name of change. We are lacking a sincere leader who could
fight for the province in the center also and have some major reforms for good governance. The
very same people that we label as corrupt just some time ago, blame and rebuke, come back to
govern us after a couple of years again when we vote for them in the general elections and
people welcome them with open arms. A common English saying goes as “fool me once, shame
on you, and fool me twice, shame on me”.
3. Rampant Corruption: Corruption is another huge social problem. The menace of corruption
has links to a multitude of vices. Its roots are linked to injustice, mistrust, suspicion, extremism
and terrorist activities. It creates a sense of insecurity, exacerbates poverty and adds to the
misfortune of the vulnerable segments of the society. It also instills a sense of hopelessness and
despondency and threatens the strength of good values which have been established over
centuries of civilized struggle. Lack of accountability has further worsen the crisis of good
governance. Even if the state officials are corrupt, the bad governance can be averted by holding

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 them accountable. But when the institutions of accountability become subject to the will of the
officials then the crisis becomes inevitable.
4. No implementation of Laws: Changes in law makes little difference if these laws are not
implemented in their true spirit. The real problem is at the implementation level. When vested
interests and incompetent officials allow subversion to the established law, even the best law
cannot be of any use. We are witnessing that the incumbent government of PTI has introduced
so many reforms, however they are yet to produce any result because of the difference in theory
and practice while implementing those.
5. No System of Merit: Four characteristics, namely, fairness or merit, competence, ability and
integrity underline Good Governance. As for fairness, it calls for ensuring equality of
opportunity through merit, transparency to meet the end of justice. Competence and ability are
inter-related inasmuch as ability is linked to competence of an individual. The recognition of
competence through merit in employment needs to be accorded the highest priority to lay basis
for Good Governance. The worth of an individual in functionally specific societies depends
upon his competence and ability to do a job efficiently rather than his family connections to
secure a job for which he is not suited. Jobs are offered to individuals on the basis of their
competence and ability in societies that have Good Governance. We are witnessing here in the
province that in most of the cases it is not the suitability of an individual for a particular job but
his clannish connections plus the influence he wields in political hierarchy that could get him a
job though he may not possess the required qualifications. Merit is discarded to accommodate
certain favorites and jobs particularly in public sector go to those who do not possess
competence to man them. Handling of jobs by incompetent personnel gives a setback to Good
Governance for achieving efficient-oriented results.
6. Faulty Local Government System: Allowing local governments a crucial role in the
governance of a nation implies means giving them control over the real strings of the country.
The first step in this process is holding official accountable for the funds they receive. Also
critical is the involvement of the local people in the planning and implementation of the projects
that will benefit them directly. The situation here in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not that much
encouraging. Funds are being embezzled not only by the MPA’s or MNA’s and the officials but
also by the locally elected representatives of the Local Government system. This is evident from
the fact that though the present government has allocated a major sum of money for carrying out

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 developmental works at the local level, however they are yet to produce any significant result
owing to the non involvement of the people in planning and implementing the developmental
works.
7. Bureaucratic Hurdles to oppose Change in the existing system: Pakistan is suffering from a
fatal problem known as “Establishment”. Every vital department in Pakistan is controlled by the
so called “Establishment”. Establishment is a network of key positions in almost all the
departments in the country. This network provides support and safe backing to their “touts” to
ensure that they remain in control and oppose any change in the existing system.
8. No planning for the over population: The province is facing the dragon of overpopulation. The
growth rate of Pakistan is very high and is among the highest in the world.. Population
expansion has been a real issue of concern for all governments. With limited resources it is very
difficult to cater to the needs of growing population. There is a great economic disparity among
the people. Poor are committing suicides out of hunger while rich are busy in amassing more
and more wealth. These social problems directly affect the masses. The massively increasing
population has almost outstripped the resources in production, facilities and in job opportunities.
Lack of effective planning on the part of the government to respond to the growing needs
because of over population has resulted in the creation of so many social and economic
problems for the people of this poor province.
9. People dissatisfaction over the system, yet not changing it: With voter participation declining
in even important local government elections, some of the key elements of good governance are
clearly lacking . Many reasons are given for the cynicism and disengagement of voters, but what
one most often hears is the that “the system is too complicated” or “nobody listen to me” or
“politicians are corrupt and uninterested”

II. Impact of Bad Governance on the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The impacts of poor governance in our province are severe. People are struggling hard to get the
basic necessities of life. Inflation has increased. The health problems have become severe.
Crime ratio has increased. The law and order situation has become so weak that almost every
citizen today is in state of insecurity. Ineffective and corrupt governments have promoted
resource depletion and even environmental destruction. They have distorted and disrupted the

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 local economy impoverishing citizens as well as frightening away investors. People have
adopted a “why bother?” attitude about politics and government.

One of the most damaging effects of bad governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the prevalence
of corruption that has ultimately resulted in lawlessness. The absence of impartial and
independent accountability has resulted in the growth of this monster. Corruption has become a
norm in our society rather than the exception.

Another worst effect of bad governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is that it has killed merit. Merit
or fairness is essential for good governance. Merit and good governance support each other. Bad
governance gives birth to nepotism and favoritism, which is anti-thesis of fairness. In a society
based on merit, it is the competence and ability of a person that is the criteria for the
employment or continuity of job.

Outside the economic sphere, bad governance has badly impacted the quality of life of everyone
from the poorest peasant to he most privileged. Not only are human rights disregarded or
enforced inconsistently, but also essential services as well as adequate food and clean water
simply are not reaching those at the bottom of the socio economic ladder. In matters of food and
water security, the interests of the political elite are served and the rights of majority often
disregarded. Poverty and inflation have increased.

The most devastating consequence of ineffective government practices was that the province
became a major center of terrorism. The disgruntled minority in the form of Talibans took up
arms and made the writ of the state weak.
III. Solutions: In building good governance one can start at any point in the process-“top” or
“bottom”- and produce positive results. Hence, dedicated leaders are essential, and much can be
done to identify and cultivate the qualities of leadership in schools and training institutions.
It makes sense to educate politically at the local level and its also important ot hold national
politicians and civil servants accountable.
The antidote to negative attitudes towards good governance involves education, but other
systemic reforms are also required. For example, unless and until special laws are not

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formulated and implemented to curb the unlimited powers of special interest groups of the
bureaucracy, the voice of the common citizen will not count as much as it could.
Introducing representative, fully decentralized and well-funded programs locally can invigorate
governance at every level in the administration. Research points to a significant and durable
reduction of poverty in countries where these kinds of grassroots change have taken place. With
their newfound political power, citizens begin to insist on services that their government is
obliged to deliver to them. Gradually, government agencies take responsibility for health care,
education and other essential social programs previously denied, especially to citizens at the
lower end of the socio-economic scale.

There are many ways to strengthen governance in the province and to solve the associated
problems with this lack of good governance.One of them is to create conditions supportive of
democracy such as literacy, a free press and flow of information, and gender and class equality.
Nations can recognize and train effective leaders at all levels. Pioneering organizations have
also created ways of identifying and publicizing corrupt behavior and then insisting on
accountability. Effective economic development that benefits all segments of society is also an
essential ingredient in strengthening governance.

In order to bring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa out of the governance-crisis, reforms are essential.
Among them comes first the institution building. This refers to de-personalization of state
institutions. All the state institutions shall be let to do work independently without any undue
influence and blackmailing. Bringing judiciary and accountability institutions out of the
influence of executive can help the province out of the crisis.

Though, the current government of PTI has enacted laws nearly on all the major issues that a
state and its masses may face. However, the problem lies in implementation of these laws. This
is because of the weak law enforcing agencies. Empowering police as primary measure can help
in improving the law and order situation of the province which will ultimately help it in good
governance.

Lastly, if the reforms and institution building are to be successfully brought, it is essential to

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ensure political stability and democratic evolution in here. Governance becomes good in
democratic system for most of the times.

Conclusion: Good governance requires persistence and determination on the part of all citizens.
Where individual take their civic responsibilities seriously and their civil and political rights are
protected, chances of small conflicts turning into wars are significantly reduced. Good
governance has the capacity to break the cycle that often consumes societies, enabling them to
rebuild from the bottom up. It proves the point that all the component parts of any society are
interconnected: improve even one essential function of governance and all the others will
change as well.

There are so many problems in this province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There is only one thing
that can help its people in solving all the problems that is the self-improvement of each and
every Pakistani. All of us should be patriotic, honest, and hardworking. Everyone should respect
the laws of country and obey the laws. Only then we can change the conditions of this province.
There is a famous saying "God does not change the condition of any country until the people of
the country do not improve their selves. “It is true in the case of the unlucky people living here
on this beautiful land.