You have to be either Babar Awan or a biased jiyala like him to deny that Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif is making any effort to contain the spread of dengue virus that has claimed several lives across the province since the outbreak of the epidemic a few weeks ago.
It didn’t take the Punjab Government too long to understand the gravity of the issue which it had earlier trivialised with the CM telling the media that he might have to ask General Kayani for the guns to kill the deadly mosquito. No jokes any longer! He is now virtually in a ‘state of war’, doing everything he could possibly do to save the citizens dying from the virus.
The PML(N)’s detractors would not spare any moment to criticise the Punjab government for not having taken appropriate steps to contain the dengue threat. The problem is that in a country like Pakistan politicising the issues is the norm, rather than an exception. But the fact remains that Mian Shahbaz had taken extraordinary measures to deal with the extraordinary circumstances once the mortality rate caused by the deadly virus assumed alarming proportions.
This was acknowledged even by his critics in the media after his briefing to newspaper editors and television anchors last week. Most of them returned convinced that the provincial government was putting in its best effort to meet the challenge effectively. And there would not be many to view Mian Shahbaz’s observation with suspicion when he says that his government is in a state of war against dengue and reaffirms his commitment to eradicate the menace.
Those who know the Punjab CM can vouch for his indefatigable commitment to providing the best possible facilities to the public sector hospital for the treatment of dengue patients. This was endorsed by head of the visiting Sri Lankan Medical team, Dr Hasitha Tissera, who told the participants of a seminar the other day that the Punjab government was heading in the right direction and had devised an effective strategy for the containment and eradication of the disease. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sri Lankan experts, who were here to guide us on how to tackle the deadly virus, return home to replicate our model,” quipped a senior doctor who’s privy to the measures taken by the Punjab government to cope with a serious healthcare challenge. But he was left wondering why the Punjab government shied away from seeking help from the countries having successful clinical and research experience in defeating dengue.
There is no doubt that the Punjab government deserves credit for taking an initiative to meet the crisis head-on, though there have been some very serious lapses on its part. For instance the provincial health department failed to assess the gravity of the situation and the result has been an inordinate delay in the import of life saving drugs like Dextron 40 that would be available in the public sector hospitals only after hundreds of poor patients had died.
Every society faces problems but they are always aggravated by the bureaucratic complacency in our case. Barring a few exceptions like the Commissioner and DCO Lahore, there’s no dearth of lazy good-for-nothing civil servants who would spend hours on end discussing among themselves or telling their visitors how easily the government could have resolved a particular issue by acting on an advice they had once rendered at a high-level meeting. The smarter ones among them would make the best use of news clippings to have their notes prepared so that they can articulate their suggestions as and when summoned by the CM Secretariat.
The problem with our elected political leadership is that it has not been able to break the tradition of relying on bureaucrats. Mian Shahbaz is no exception. But he would definitely acknowledge the role of his party colleagues who are seen keeping pace with him in the ongoing fight against dengue. And he knows that he can benefit more from the advice coming from the people like Kh Saad Rafiq, Pervez Malik and other party legislators who frequently visit hospitals and interact with the constituents rather than the theoretical input from civil servants.
The elected representatives are doing so because they are aware that success of the campaign for the eradication of the deadly virus is crucial to their own political survival. Bureaucrats have nothing at stake. They may be good at lecturing on the needs of improving the public delivery system but they are reluctant and stiff when it actually comes to helping the ordinary folks.
Mian Shahbaz must be confident that his political team would not be lacking in its spirit when he will embark on the next phase of his campaign aimed at visiting ‘every house and shop’ to make the citizens realise their responsibility of keeping their environment clean. If his party men draw inspiration from him, it is just because they have seen him leading by example.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today
My friend the total breakdown of basic management structures and bad administration has led to this disaster. Where was the great shahbaz sharif earlier in the year when his government should have put in an effective controls in place to combat and address the poor environment. The Sharifs unfortunately only care for building up their assets rather than looking after the poor people of Punjab. Have you visited the town and cities outside of Lahore. Whats happening now is basic fire fighting and event this is pathetic to say the least – Sir – the horse has bolted!!
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